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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: kid · march · race · cold · lash · staff · hand · racket

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. race — humankind
  3. staff — employees
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. march — the month
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. march — music
  8. staff — a stick
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. race — a contest
  12. cold — not warm
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. kid — child
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. kid — to tease
  18. hand — in cards
  19. march — the month
  20. cold — an illness
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. race — the arms race
  23. hand — help
  24. staff — employees

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