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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: kid · pop · jam · squash · present · fan · bound · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. present — a gift
  3. kid — to tease
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. pop — to visit
  8. kid — child
  9. present — there
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. present — the time now
  12. bound — obliged
  13. bound — tied together
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. squash — to crush
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. cold — not warm
  21. squash — the sport
  22. pop — soda
  23. pop — music
  24. bound — certain

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