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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 116 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 · snap · swing · pop · fork · mouse · kid · bound

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. bound — tied together
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. fork — in a road
  6. pop — to visit
  7. kid — child
  8. swing — music
  9. snap — to click
  10. kid — to tease
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. pop — music
  16. cold — not warm
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. cold — an illness
  19. pop — soda
  20. swing — in golf
  21. swing — to play on
  22. bound — obliged
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. bound — certain

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