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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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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: cold · can · ground · snap · racket · content · pit · drill

  1. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. pit — in a race
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. ground — crushed
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. can — a tin
  8. cold — an illness
  9. ground — a position
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. drill — army training
  13. snap — to click
  14. content — the amount
  15. cold — not warm
  16. can — to be able to
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. content — happy
  19. pit — a hole
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. ground — the earth
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. drill — a practice
  24. drill — the tool

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