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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 120 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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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 · bark · mouse · snap · pitcher · nail · cold · race

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. race — a contest
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. race — humankind
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. cold — an illness
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. cold — not warm
  20. race — the arms race
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. bark — to shout
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. nail — for a hammer

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