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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: row · toast · racket · kid · bat · cold · ball · fan

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. kid — to tease
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bat — the animal
  8. toast — bread
  9. ball — a dance
  10. kid — child
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. ball — a great time
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. row — a line
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. row — to paddle
  23. cold — an illness
  24. 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