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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: swing · wax · can · cold · snap · rest · bound · capital

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. bound — certain
  3. snap — to click
  4. wax — to grow
  5. rest — a break
  6. cold — not warm
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. capital — money
  10. can — a tin
  11. bound — tied together
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. bound — obliged
  14. rest — what's left
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. cold — an illness
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. rest — what's left
  19. can — a tin
  20. capital — a city
  21. swing — to play on
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. can — to be able to
  24. swing — in golf

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