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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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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 · fan · rash · spell · chest · bark · can · pitch

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. chest — a box
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. rash — hasty
  7. spell — a short time
  8. spell — letters
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. can — a tin
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bark — to shout
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. can — to be able to
  16. swing — music
  17. spell — magic
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. chest — of your body
  20. pitch — completely
  21. rash — a series
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — in golf
  24. can — a tin

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