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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: club · object · roll · wind · racket · cold · date · pit

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. roll — a list
  3. club — for golf
  4. date — the fruit
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. object — a thing
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. club — for dancing
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. object — to protest
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. wind — moving air
  18. pit — in a race
  19. roll — a cake
  20. object — an aim
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. club — a group
  24. wind — moving air

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