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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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: pitcher · fall · cold · clip · ball · racket · degree · wake

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. fall — to drop
  3. fall — the season
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. degree — from a university
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. clip — a video
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. wake — a trail
  15. degree — an amount
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. cold — an illness
  18. degree — temperature
  19. ball — a dance
  20. ball — a great time
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. fall — to drop
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — a jug

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