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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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Word bank
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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: spring · chair · swing · lie · wound · wave · firm · cap

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. chair — a leader
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. spring — a coil
  5. wound — an injury
  6. swing — music
  7. cap — of ice
  8. cap — a hat
  9. cap — a lid
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. spring — the season
  14. swing — to play on
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. wound — an injury
  17. swing — in golf
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. firm — steady
  20. spring — of water
  21. lie — to recline
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. firm — decided
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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