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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: racket · cue · prune · race · object · bat · rash · clip

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. prune — to trim
  3. object — a thing
  4. object — an aim
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. cue — for pool
  8. prune — to trim
  9. race — a contest
  10. object — to protest
  11. cue — a hint
  12. cue — a signal
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — humankind
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. clip — for paper
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bat — the animal
  22. rash — hasty
  23. clip — a video
  24. rash — a series

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