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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 120 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: bat · foot · fall · lean · nail · cold · march · racket

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. cold — an illness
  5. march — the month
  6. march — the month
  7. bat — the animal
  8. foot — a measure
  9. fall — to drop
  10. lean — to bend
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. lean — thin
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. fall — the season
  18. march — music
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. fall — to drop
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cold — not warm

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