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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: swing · pop · bank · rock · field · craft · cold · bat

  1. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — boats
  2. field — farmland
  3. swing — music
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bank — for money
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. swing — to play on
  9. pop — music
  10. rock — music
  11. pop — to visit
  12. pop — soda
  13. bat — the animal
  14. rock — a stone
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — for sport
  17. cold — not warm
  18. swing — in golf
  19. cold — an illness
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. craft — a skill
  22. bank — for money
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. bank — of a river

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