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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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Word bank
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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: arm · racket · cold · march · current · swing · fall · ball

  1. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. current — electric
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. march — music
  5. ball — a great time
  6. cold — not warm
  7. march — the month
  8. swing — in golf
  9. current — of water
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ball — a dance
  13. fall — to drop
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. cold — an illness
  17. swing — music
  18. current — happening now
  19. fall — to drop
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. swing — to play on
  22. march — the month
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. fall — the season

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