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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: pound · racket · net · ball · cold · tear · tube · spell

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. tear — to rip
  3. spell — magic
  4. tube — a container
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. tear — from crying
  7. ball — a dance
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. pound — a weight
  10. cold — an illness
  11. spell — a short time
  12. tube — the underground
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. tear — from crying
  17. net — after costs
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. net — in sport
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. net — for catching
  22. spell — letters
  23. ball — a great time
  24. tube — in a tire

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