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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: wind · shower · squash · chair · race · pitch

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. wind — moving air
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. shower — to wash
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. race — the arms race
  9. race — humankind
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. squash — to crush
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. chair — a leader
  14. race — a contest
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. shower — rain
  17. pitch — completely
  18. squash — the vegetable

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