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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: tear · cold · nail · squash · kid · drill · mate · swing

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. drill — army training
  3. swing — to play on
  4. squash — the sport
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. drill — a practice
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. kid — to tease
  9. squash — to crush
  10. mate — to breed
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mate — a partner
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. kid — child
  16. tear — from crying
  17. swing — in golf
  18. cold — not warm
  19. tear — from crying
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. drill — the tool
  23. tear — to rip
  24. mate — a friend

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