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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: roll · racket · tear · kid · cold · club

  1. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. tear — to rip
  4. tear — from crying
  5. club — for dancing
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. tear — from crying
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. kid — to tease
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. kid — child
  12. club — for golf
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. cold — an illness
  15. cold — not warm
  16. club — a group
  17. roll — a list
  18. roll — a cake

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