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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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Word bank
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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: nail · snap · bowl · swing · cold · land · bore · coach

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  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. bowl — a football final
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. land — to come down
  5. bore — to drill
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. cold — not warm
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. swing — to play on
  10. swing — music
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — an illness
  13. swing — in golf
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. land — a country
  18. land — ground
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. bore — to tire
  22. bowl — to roll
  23. snap — to click
  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