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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: swing · game · toast · cold · bore · foot · band · nail

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. bore — to tire
  3. cold — not warm
  4. game — a match
  5. toast — bread
  6. foot — part of the body
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. bore — to drill
  10. band — a music group
  11. swing — in golf
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. cold — an illness
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. swing — to play on
  20. foot — a measure
  21. swing — music
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. band — a ring
  24. nail — on a finger

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