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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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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 · wind · rash · branch · wake · cap · kid · pop

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pop — to visit
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. kid — child
  7. pop — music
  8. branch — a division
  9. pop — soda
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cap — a hat
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wake — a trail
  16. rash — hasty
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. rash — a series
  19. cap — a lid
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. cap — of ice
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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