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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. I assure you, everything's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. saw — the tool
  6. bat — the animal
  7. cap — a lid
  8. kick — in football
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. cold — not warm
  12. fine — high quality
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cap — a hat
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. cold — an illness
  20. saw — the tool
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. cap — of ice
  24. fine — all right

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