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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: cold · mug · swing · rule · spell · bore · roll · track

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. spell — letters
  3. swing — to play on
  4. bore — to drill
  5. cold — an illness
  6. track — a song
  7. cold — not warm
  8. track — a path
  9. rule — a law
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. bore — to tire
  12. roll — a cake
  13. swing — in golf
  14. mug — a cup
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. mug — to rob
  17. track — to keep track
  18. mug — a face
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. roll — a list
  21. spell — magic
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. rule — government
  24. spell — a short time

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