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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: mine · ball · track · perch · bat · wound · swing · stem

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. swing — music
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. ball — a great time
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. wound — an injury
  8. swing — to play on
  9. wound — an injury
  10. mine — for digging
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. track — a song
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. perch — the fish
  15. track — a path
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. bat — the animal
  20. track — to keep track
  21. swing — in golf
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. stem — to come from
  24. bat — for baseball

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