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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: cold · bowl · bass · snap · suit · racket · rash · pit

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  18. When will it ________________ you to start?
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. snap — to click
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. bass — the fish
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. bass — low music
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. cold — an illness
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. rash — hasty
  15. suit — clothes
  16. pit — in a race
  17. suit — in cards
  18. suit — to fit
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. rash — a series
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. cold — not warm
  24. pit — a hole

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