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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: shower · kid · race · rest · pit · pop

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. pop — to visit
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kid — child
  5. race — humankind
  6. shower — rain
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pop — soda
  9. shower — to wash
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. pop — music
  12. rest — what's left
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. race — the arms race
  15. rest — a break
  16. rest — what's left
  17. race — a contest
  18. shower — a meteor shower

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