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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: swing · stand · date · ball · wound · cell · cold · bay

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. swing — to play on
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — not warm
  9. date — the fruit
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. ball — a dance
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. cell — in biology
  15. wound — an injury
  16. swing — in golf
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. wound — an injury
  19. stand — to bear
  20. cell — a phone
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. ball — a great time

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