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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: wind · race · dip · cold · racket · drill · wake · bat

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. cold — not warm
  3. dip — to sink
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. race — humankind
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wake — a trail
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. drill — army training
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. race — the arms race
  17. cold — an illness
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. bat — the animal
  20. race — a contest
  21. drill — the tool
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. drill — a practice

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