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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · rush · cold · snap · hand · hide · chair · game

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. game — wild animals
  5. rush — hurry
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. chair — a leader
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — in cards
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. swing — to play on
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. snap — to click
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. swing — in golf
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. swing — music
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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