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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: rest · perch · sharp · wind · march · swing · mark · chest

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. rest — a break
  6. rest — what's left
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. march — music
  9. perch — the fish
  10. mark — a trace
  11. chest — of your body
  12. march — the month
  13. swing — to play on
  14. swing — in golf
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. swing — music
  17. rest — what's left
  18. chest — a box
  19. mark — a grade
  20. march — the month
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — moving air
  24. sharp — clever

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