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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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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: scale · bound · bore · snap · cold · nail · pop · net

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bound — tied together
  4. pop — soda
  5. bore — to tire
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. bore — to drill
  8. scale — size or range
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. net — after costs
  11. net — in sport
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bound — obliged
  14. net — for catching
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. snap — to click
  18. pop — to visit
  19. pop — music
  20. scale — in music
  21. bound — certain
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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