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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 120 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: kid · present · deal · racket · pitch · wake · race · cold

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. wake — a trail
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. cold — not warm
  8. race — humankind
  9. kid — to tease
  10. present — the time now
  11. race — the arms race
  12. deal — to handle
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — child
  15. present — there
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. race — a contest
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. pitch — completely
  20. present — a gift
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. cold — an illness

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