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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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Word bank
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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: cabinet · wave · game · bat · kid · march · racket · squash

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  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. kid — child
  2. wave — with your hand
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. march — music
  9. game — wild animals
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. squash — to crush
  15. march — the month
  16. squash — the sport
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. kid — to tease
  20. game — a match
  21. bat — the animal
  22. march — the month
  23. squash — the vegetable
  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