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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: date · racket · cold · chip · lean · bat · vault · race

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. cold — not warm
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. bat — the animal
  7. vault — a safe
  8. race — the arms race
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. chip — for betting
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. chip — to eat
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. race — humankind
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. lean — to bend
  19. lean — thin
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. cold — an illness
  23. date — the fruit
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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