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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: march · cold · racket · mouse · dip · row · swing · chest

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. dip — to sink
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. march — the month
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. swing — music
  8. row — a line
  9. march — music
  10. chest — a box
  11. swing — in golf
  12. chest — of your body
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. cold — not warm
  19. march — the month
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. chest — of your body
  22. cold — an illness
  23. row — to paddle
  24. swing — to play on

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