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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: cold · bowl · kick · track · swing · game · current · pound

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. cold — not warm
  5. track — to keep track
  6. swing — to play on
  7. kick — in football
  8. current — of water
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. track — a song
  12. game — wild animals
  13. cold — an illness
  14. current — happening now
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. swing — in golf
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. current — electric
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. track — a path
  22. game — a match
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. swing — music

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