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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 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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. tube — a container
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. charge — a price
  7. suit — to fit
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. charge — electricity
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. kid — to tease
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. cold — an illness
  14. kid — child
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. suit — clothes
  19. suit — in cards
  20. charge — in control
  21. tube — the underground
  22. mine — for digging
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. tube — in a tire

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