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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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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: tear · racket · ground · club · scale · cold

  1. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  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. scale — size or range
  2. club — a group
  3. cold — an illness
  4. club — for dancing
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. tear — to rip
  8. ground — the earth
  9. tear — from crying
  10. ground — crushed
  11. scale — in music
  12. cold — not warm
  13. tear — from crying
  14. ground — a position
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. club — for golf
  17. racket — for tennis
  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