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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 120 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: board · swing · pound · spring · cold · race · pit · deal

  1. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. swing — to play on
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pit — a hole
  5. spring — of water
  6. race — humankind
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. spring — the season
  9. cold — not warm
  10. swing — in golf
  11. pit — in a race
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. race — the arms race
  14. swing — music
  15. board — to get on
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. race — a contest
  18. pound — a weight
  19. spring — a coil
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. board — a committee
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pound — to hit hard

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