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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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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: wound · cell · swing · wind · row · kick · board · season

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. swing — music
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. board — a committee
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. board — to get on
  7. kick — in football
  8. cell — in biology
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. cell — a phone
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. swing — in golf
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. row — a line
  18. season — of the year
  19. wound — an injury
  20. row — to paddle
  21. season — in sport
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. wind — moving air
  24. swing — to play on

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