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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. hand — help
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. fork — in a road
  5. cold — not warm
  6. hand — in cards
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. content — the amount
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. scale — size or range
  14. scale — in music
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. cold — an illness
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. content — happy

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