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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 116 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: wind · kid · pound · firm · last · sharp · land · swing

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. firm — steady
  4. swing — music
  5. wind — moving air
  6. land — ground
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. land — to come down
  11. last — finally
  12. last — to go on
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. firm — a company
  17. kid — child
  18. swing — in golf
  19. sharp — clever
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. kid — to tease
  22. firm — decided
  23. land — a country
  24. last — final

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