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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. club — for dancing
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. club — for golf
  6. race — the arms race
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. court — of a king
  11. ball — a dance
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bat — the animal
  14. ball — a great time
  15. race — a contest
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. court — of law
  19. cold — an illness
  20. club — a group
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. court — for sport
  24. race — humankind

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