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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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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: bowl · racket · squash · suit · cold · capital · race · date

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. suit — clothes
  6. capital — money
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. capital — a city
  9. race — humankind
  10. squash — to crush
  11. suit — to fit
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. date — the fruit
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. race — a contest
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. race — the arms race
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. squash — the sport
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. suit — in cards

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