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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 · kid · cold · lash · wave · spell · ground · drill

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. ground — crushed
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. spell — letters
  6. cold — not warm
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. drill — the tool
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. spell — magic
  11. spell — a short time
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. ground — the earth
  14. kid — child
  15. drill — a practice
  16. drill — army training
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. kid — to tease
  20. cold — an illness
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. racket — for tennis

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