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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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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: march · kick · cell · cold · racket · key

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. kick — in football
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. march — the month
  8. cold — not warm
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. key — the most important part
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. march — the month
  13. cell — a phone
  14. key — in music
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. key — for a lock
  17. cell — in biology
  18. march — music

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