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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: wind · drill · racket · cold · bowl · squash

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. cold — an illness
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — not warm
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. wind — moving air
  9. drill — army training
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. drill — a practice
  13. squash — the sport
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. wind — moving air
  16. squash — to crush
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bowl — to roll

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