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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: race · cold · squash · kick · drill · plane

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. kick — in football
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. plane — a tool
  6. drill — army training
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. race — a contest
  9. race — the arms race
  10. cold — an illness
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. drill — a practice
  13. squash — the sport
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. drill — the tool
  16. squash — to crush
  17. race — humankind
  18. cold — not warm

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