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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 120 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 · hand · track · drill · chip · bound · rule · swing

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. track — a path
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. swing — music
  5. hand — help
  6. chip — to eat
  7. track — a song
  8. cold — not warm
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. drill — the tool
  11. bound — certain
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. chip — for betting
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rule — a law
  16. drill — a practice
  17. drill — army training
  18. bound — obliged
  19. swing — in golf
  20. rule — government
  21. bound — tied together
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. swing — to play on
  24. hand — in cards

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