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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 116 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: cold · pound · racket · snap · saw · coach · content · key

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. pound — a weight
  9. key — in music
  10. key — for a lock
  11. saw — the tool
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. snap — to click
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. content — the amount
  21. content — happy
  22. saw — the tool
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. key — the most important part

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