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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 · bat · file · branch · wave · kid · cold · calf

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  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. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. branch — of a tree
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. file — a line of people
  12. branch — a division
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. file — a document
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. kid — to tease
  23. kid — child
  24. wave — of the sea

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