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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 116 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: band · pitch · wind · sharp · snap · swing · land · bulb

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  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. snap — to click
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. band — a ring
  5. swing — to play on
  6. swing — music
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. wind — moving air
  10. pitch — completely
  11. land — to come down
  12. land — ground
  13. bulb — for light
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. swing — in golf
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. band — a music group
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. bulb — for light
  21. land — a country
  22. sharp — clever
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  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