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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: wound · snap · track · cold · racket · capital · swing · jam

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. cold — not warm
  4. track — a song
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. swing — in golf
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. swing — to play on
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. wound — an injury
  14. swing — music
  15. wound — an injury
  16. snap — to click
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — a city
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. track — to keep track
  22. track — a path
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. capital — money

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