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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: row · chest · kick · shower · fine · race

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. race — the arms race
  4. fine — all right
  5. chest — of your body
  6. fine — high quality
  7. row — a line
  8. kick — in football
  9. chest — of your body
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. race — humankind
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. race — a contest
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. chest — a box
  17. row — to paddle
  18. shower — rain

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