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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: club · march · ball · swing · tear · wind · spell · pound

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. swing — music
  3. ball — a great time
  4. march — the month
  5. wind — moving air
  6. spell — letters
  7. club — for golf
  8. swing — in golf
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. club — a group
  11. march — the month
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. club — for dancing
  14. pound — a weight
  15. spell — a short time
  16. tear — to rip
  17. ball — a dance
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. wind — moving air
  20. tear — from crying
  21. march — music
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. swing — to play on
  24. spell — magic

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