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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: wind · swing · wake · roll · ground · rash · tear · firm

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. tear — from crying
  3. swing — to play on
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. roll — a list
  7. roll — a cake
  8. swing — in golf
  9. firm — decided
  10. rash — hasty
  11. firm — steady
  12. wind — moving air
  13. ground — a position
  14. ground — the earth
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. wind — moving air
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tear — from crying
  19. rash — a series
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. wake — a trail
  23. swing — music
  24. firm — a company

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