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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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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 · wound · swing · pound · court · cap · mate · bore

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. pound — a weight
  3. swing — in golf
  4. mate — a partner
  5. cap — a lid
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cap — a hat
  8. bore — to tire
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. court — of a king
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. bore — to drill
  15. swing — to play on
  16. mate — to breed
  17. swing — music
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. court — of law
  20. cap — of ice
  21. mate — a friend
  22. cold — not warm
  23. court — for sport
  24. pound — for dogs

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