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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: band · pass · rest · cold · squash · mark · bat · racket

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. mark — a trace
  3. cold — not warm
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. mark — a grade
  6. squash — to crush
  7. rest — what's left
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. band — a ring
  12. cold — an illness
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. squash — the sport
  16. rest — a break
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. band — a music group
  19. rest — what's left
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. pass — a permit
  22. pass — to succeed
  23. bat — the animal
  24. mark — to pay attention

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