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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 · wind · plane · cold · chest · content · bowl · nail

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. wind — moving air
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. chest — a box
  5. content — the amount
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. cold — not warm
  9. wind — moving air
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. plane — a tool
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. cold — an illness
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. content — happy
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bowl — to roll

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