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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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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: chip · pass · last · wound · root · kid · cold · swing

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. last — final
  3. swing — in golf
  4. cold — an illness
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. cold — not warm
  7. swing — music
  8. last — to go on
  9. chip — to eat
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. last — finally
  12. swing — to play on
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — an injury
  15. root — of a plant
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. root — of a word
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. kid — child
  22. root — the cause
  23. chip — for betting
  24. pass — a permit

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