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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: nail · wake · cap · ball · racket · clip · mark · cold

  1. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. cold — an illness
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. clip — to cut
  6. ball — a great time
  7. clip — for paper
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. mark — a trace
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. wake — a trail
  12. cap — a lid
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. ball — a dance
  15. cap — a hat
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. cold — not warm
  18. mark — a grade
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. clip — a video
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. cap — of ice
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. cold — the Cold War

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