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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: kid · patient · rush · coach · pitch · race · wind · racket

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. race — a contest
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. race — the arms race
  8. kid — to tease
  9. race — humankind
  10. kid — child
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. wind — moving air
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. pitch — completely
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. rush — a thrill

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