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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. cold — an illness
  4. track — a path
  5. pound — a weight
  6. wind — moving air
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. cue — a signal
  9. kid — to tease
  10. cue — a hint
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. cold — not warm
  13. saw — the tool
  14. cue — for pool
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. track — to keep track
  17. saw — the tool
  18. wind — moving air
  19. track — a song
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. swing — music
  22. swing — to play on
  23. swing — in golf
  24. kid — child

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