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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: bound · swing · hide · track · hand · cold · wound · cue

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. bound — obliged
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. track — a path
  6. cold — an illness
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. cold — not warm
  9. track — to keep track
  10. bound — certain
  11. swing — to play on
  12. wound — an injury
  13. track — a song
  14. swing — in golf
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cue — a hint
  17. hand — in cards
  18. hand — help
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. bound — tied together
  23. cue — for pool
  24. cue — a signal

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