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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 116 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 · rash · game · race · tear · object · rush · wave

  1. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. game — a match
  3. object — an aim
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — an illness
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. tear — from crying
  9. race — the arms race
  10. tear — to rip
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. rush — hurry
  14. tear — from crying
  15. rash — a series
  16. rash — hasty
  17. game — wild animals
  18. race — a contest
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. race — humankind
  24. object — a thing

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