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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: cold · fall · pound · sharp · snap · swing · key · toast

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. fall — the season
  4. swing — music
  5. key — the most important part
  6. sharp — clever
  7. toast — bread
  8. fall — to drop
  9. swing — in golf
  10. pound — a weight
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. cold — an illness
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. key — for a lock
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. key — in music
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. swing — to play on
  22. fall — to drop
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. sharp — exactly

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