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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: race · pound · field · cold · snap · bore · swing · drill

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. field — for sport
  3. bore — to drill
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. race — humankind
  6. field — farmland
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. swing — in golf
  9. cold — not warm
  10. drill — a practice
  11. drill — the tool
  12. field — a subject
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. cold — an illness
  17. race — the arms race
  18. swing — to play on
  19. pound — a weight
  20. snap — to click
  21. race — a contest
  22. drill — army training
  23. bore — to tire
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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