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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: file · racket · kick · cold · arm · jam · rush · trunk

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. jam — a tight spot
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. cold — not warm
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. rush — hurry
  12. jam — to spread on bread
  13. cold — an illness
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a document
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. kick — in football
  23. file — a line of people
  24. kick — a thrill

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