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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: march · net · wind · nail · cold · swing · fall · ball

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. ball — a dance
  3. cold — not warm
  4. net — in sport
  5. cold — an illness
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. wind — moving air
  8. march — the month
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. swing — in golf
  11. march — the month
  12. fall — the season
  13. net — after costs
  14. fall — to drop
  15. fall — to drop
  16. swing — music
  17. wind — moving air
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. net — for catching
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. march — music
  22. ball — a great time
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. wind — to turn a key

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