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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: present · bulb · drill · snap · march · swing · squash · cold

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. present — there
  3. swing — in golf
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. present — a gift
  7. drill — army training
  8. cold — not warm
  9. march — the month
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bulb — for light
  12. swing — music
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. drill — the tool
  15. march — music
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. swing — to play on
  18. drill — a practice
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. march — the month
  22. snap — to click
  23. present — the time now
  24. squash — to crush

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