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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: racket · ball · tear · race · rash · hide · bat · hand

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. hand — in cards
  4. rash — hasty
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. race — a contest
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. ball — a dance
  10. rash — a series
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. ball — a great time
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. tear — from crying
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. race — humankind
  18. tear — from crying
  19. race — the arms race
  20. hand — help
  21. bat — the animal
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. tear — to rip
  24. racket — a loud noise

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