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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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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: cold · bear · swing · hide · rule · snap

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. rule — a law
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. bear — the animal
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. swing — to play on
  7. swing — music
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. bear — the animal
  12. snap — to click
  13. swing — in golf
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. rule — government
  18. rule — to rule out

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