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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 124 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: racket · wake · cold · rest · degree · chip

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. rest — what's left
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. degree — temperature
  6. wake — a trail
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. chip — for betting
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. cold — an illness
  11. rest — a break
  12. rest — what's left
  13. cold — not warm
  14. chip — to eat
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. degree — from a university
  18. degree — an amount

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