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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: shower · bowl · field · tear · race · rash · track · hand

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. track — a song
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. race — a contest
  5. track — a path
  6. field — for sport
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. race — humankind
  9. rash — hasty
  10. tear — from crying
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. tear — to rip
  13. field — a subject
  14. shower — to wash
  15. track — to keep track
  16. tear — from crying
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. shower — rain
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. field — farmland
  22. rash — a series
  23. hand — in cards
  24. race — the arms race

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