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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: game · swing · plane · stick · spell · cold · pass · wind

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. spell — magic
  3. spell — a short time
  4. game — a match
  5. game — wild animals
  6. swing — music
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. swing — in golf
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. pass — a permit
  12. spell — letters
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. swing — to play on
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. cold — not warm
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. wind — moving air
  22. plane — a tool
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. wind — moving air

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