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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: lash · court · tube · kid · pound · racket · rush · cold

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. pound — a weight
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. tube — a container
  5. court — of law
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. kid — to tease
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. cold — not warm
  12. court — of a king
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. court — for sport
  15. cold — an illness
  16. kid — child
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. tube — the underground
  24. racket — for tennis

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