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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: swing · band · wake · pound · wound · kid · cabinet · cold

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. band — a music group
  3. kid — child
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. wake — a trail
  6. swing — in golf
  7. swing — to play on
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. cold — not warm
  18. band — a ring
  19. pound — a weight
  20. swing — music
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. kid — to tease
  24. wake — before a funeral

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