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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: squash · dip · wind · cold · court · field · swing · perch

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. squash — to crush
  4. cold — an illness
  5. swing — music
  6. cold — not warm
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — a subject
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. court — of a king
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. court — of law
  17. swing — in golf
  18. perch — the fish
  19. dip — to sink
  20. squash — the sport
  21. field — farmland
  22. wind — moving air
  23. swing — to play on
  24. court — for sport

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