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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 120 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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. scale — size or range
  3. race — a contest
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. kid — child
  8. race — the arms race
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. drill — army training
  11. shower — rain
  12. scale — in music
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. bass — low music
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. bass — the fish
  18. shower — to wash
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. kid — to tease
  21. race — humankind
  22. drill — a practice
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. drill — the 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