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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 120 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: swing · pound · game · scale · pop · club · spring · wind

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. club — for dancing
  3. game — wild animals
  4. swing — to play on
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — the season
  7. pound — a weight
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. scale — size or range
  11. club — a group
  12. pop — music
  13. pop — to visit
  14. spring — a coil
  15. game — a match
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. swing — music
  18. scale — in music
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. swing — in golf
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. club — for golf
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — moving air

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