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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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. cold — not warm
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. file — a line of people
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. degree — an amount
  14. degree — temperature
  15. degree — from a university
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. file — a document
  18. vault — a safe
  19. stem — to come from
  20. pitch — completely
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. file — a tool

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