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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 116 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: cold · racket · kid · staff · rock · content · key · shower

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. rock — music
  4. staff — a stick
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. cold — not warm
  8. shower — rain
  9. kid — child
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. staff — employees
  12. content — happy
  13. shower — to wash
  14. kid — to tease
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. key — for a lock
  17. content — the amount
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. key — in music
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. rock — a stone
  22. key — the most important part
  23. staff — employees
  24. cold — an illness

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