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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. bass — low music
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. race — the arms race
  6. stand — on your feet
  7. stand — to bear
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. club — for golf
  10. court — for sport
  11. club — a group
  12. bass — the fish
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. court — of law
  15. race — humankind
  16. tear — from crying
  17. file — a tool
  18. tear — from crying
  19. court — of a king
  20. club — for dancing
  21. file — a document
  22. tear — to rip
  23. race — a contest
  24. file — a line of people

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