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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: march · cold · net · chip · racket · hide · bat · nail

  1. The ________________ went through the wall.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. chip — to eat
  5. net — after costs
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — not warm
  10. march — the month
  11. march — the month
  12. net — for catching
  13. chip — for betting
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. net — in sport
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. bat — the animal
  21. march — music
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bat — for baseball

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