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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: squash · spring · wound · stock · cold · rash · swing · cabinet

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. stock — shares
  3. swing — in golf
  4. stock — goods
  5. spring — the season
  6. swing — to play on
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. swing — music
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. rash — a series
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. spring — a coil
  17. squash — the sport
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. cold — not warm
  20. rash — hasty
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. spring — of water

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com