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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: deal · shower · race · wound · pitch · kid

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. race — a contest
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — to tease
  6. shower — rain
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. pitch — completely
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. wound — an injury
  12. race — humankind
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. race — the arms race
  16. deal — to handle
  17. wound — an injury
  18. pitch — a sales talk

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