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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: nail · bowl · present · swing · cold · kick · firm · wound

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. swing — to play on
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. swing — in golf
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. wound — an injury
  8. firm — a company
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. present — the time now
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. firm — steady
  17. swing — music
  18. cold — not warm
  19. kick — in football
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wound — an injury
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. present — there
  24. firm — decided

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