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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: race · wind · arm · swing · bear · hide · cold · bound

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. swing — in golf
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. bound — obliged
  5. bound — tied together
  6. bound — certain
  7. bear — the animal
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bear — the animal
  10. cold — not warm
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. race — a contest
  16. swing — music
  17. cold — an illness
  18. race — the arms race
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. swing — to play on
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. race — humankind

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