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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: racket · swing · cold · tear · wind · march · leaves · drill

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. march — the month
  3. wind — moving air
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. tear — from crying
  6. drill — army training
  7. march — the month
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. swing — to play on
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. wind — moving air
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. swing — in golf
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. tear — from crying
  17. drill — the tool
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. swing — music
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. drill — a practice
  22. march — music
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. tear — to rip

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