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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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Word bank
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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: drill · can · cold · racket · game · shower

  1. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. can — to be able to
  3. game — wild animals
  4. can — a tin
  5. cold — not warm
  6. game — a match
  7. can — a tin
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. drill — a practice
  12. drill — the tool
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. shower — to wash
  15. drill — army training
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. shower — rain
  18. racket — for tennis

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