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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 · race · cold · content · roll · ruler

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. race — humankind
  3. roll — a cake
  4. content — happy
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. race — the arms race
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. roll — a list
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. race — a contest
  18. content — the 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