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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: racket · row · cold · bore · craft · present · game · bowl

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. present — a gift
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. game — a match
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. present — there
  10. row — to paddle
  11. craft — a skill
  12. craft — boats
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. cold — an illness
  16. row — a line
  17. present — the time now
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. bore — to drill
  22. bore — to tire
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. game — wild animals

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