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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 124 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: arm · leaves · squash · wound · court · wind · swing · pop

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. swing — to play on
  4. pop — to visit
  5. wound — an injury
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. squash — the sport
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. squash — to crush
  12. court — for sport
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. swing — in golf
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. pop — soda
  18. pop — music
  19. swing — music
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. court — of law
  22. wound — an injury
  23. court — of a king
  24. squash — the vegetable

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