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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: racket · cold · ground · toast · wind · file · trunk · chair

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. cold — not warm
  4. ground — the earth
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. ground — a position
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. wind — moving air
  13. ground — crushed
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cold — an illness
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. file — a document
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. chair — a leader
  23. toast — bread
  24. file — a line of people

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