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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 · bass · bat · swing · calf · racket · vault · spell

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. bass — low music
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. spell — a short time
  8. swing — to play on
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — an illness
  13. swing — in golf
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — the animal
  19. vault — a safe
  20. bass — the fish
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. swing — music
  23. spell — letters
  24. cold — the Cold War

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