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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: swing · last · pitcher · mine · fall · club · wind · band

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. swing — in golf
  5. fall — to drop
  6. club — a group
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. fall — to drop
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mine — for digging
  11. band — a ring
  12. last — finally
  13. fall — the season
  14. swing — music
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. last — final
  18. wind — moving air
  19. club — for dancing
  20. last — to go on
  21. band — a music group
  22. wind — moving air
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. club — for golf

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