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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · bat · squash · bore · charge · court · cold · date

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. bore — to tire
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. court — of a king
  11. bat — the animal
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. court — for sport
  15. charge — in control
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. squash — to crush
  18. charge — a price
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bore — to drill
  21. court — of law
  22. squash — the sport
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. date — the fruit

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