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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: nail · mark · hide · pound · band · swing · cold · date

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. mark — a trace
  5. band — a music group
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. cold — not warm
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. date — the fruit
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. cold — an illness
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. swing — in golf
  16. swing — to play on
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. pound — a weight
  19. mark — a grade
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. swing — music
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. band — a ring

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