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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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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: wind · roll · rash · content · fall · swing · wave · face

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. swing — in golf
  4. fall — to drop
  5. face — to point toward
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — the season
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. rash — hasty
  12. content — happy
  13. rash — a series
  14. face — part of the head
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. swing — to play on
  19. wind — moving air
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. roll — a list
  22. face — to confront
  23. content — the amount
  24. swing — music

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