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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: shower · mine · race · racket · last · suit · mate · cold

  1. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. When will it ________________ you to start?
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. last — finally
  3. last — to go on
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. mate — to breed
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. last — final
  10. shower — rain
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. race — the arms race
  13. mate — a partner
  14. shower — to wash
  15. cold — an illness
  16. race — humankind
  17. suit — clothes
  18. race — a contest
  19. suit — to fit
  20. suit — in cards
  21. mine — for digging
  22. cold — not warm
  23. mate — a friend
  24. cold — the Cold War

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