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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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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: march · bark · pit · cold · wind · swing · cap · straw

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. swing — music
  3. swing — to play on
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. wind — moving air
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pit — a hole
  10. march — music
  11. bark — to shout
  12. pit — in a race
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cap — a hat
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. swing — in golf
  20. march — the month
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. cap — a lid
  24. march — the month

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