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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: racket · ball · game · wind · squash · bat · rock · tear

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. bat — the animal
  3. tear — from crying
  4. game — wild animals
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. ball — a dance
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. rock — music
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. ball — a great time
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. tear — from crying
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. tear — to rip
  20. squash — the sport
  21. game — a match
  22. wind — moving air
  23. squash — to crush
  24. rock — a stone

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