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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: swing · race · cold · bowl · bat · racket · mark · club

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. club — for dancing
  3. swing — to play on
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. race — humankind
  6. club — a group
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. cold — not warm
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. race — a contest
  14. swing — in golf
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. mark — a trace
  18. club — for golf
  19. race — the arms race
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. mark — a grade
  23. swing — music
  24. racket — a loud noise

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