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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: race · current · band · drill · shower · rash · land · lean

  1. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. rash — hasty
  4. current — of water
  5. race — humankind
  6. land — to come down
  7. land — ground
  8. lean — to bend
  9. band — a ring
  10. current — electric
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. drill — the tool
  14. rash — a series
  15. race — a contest
  16. drill — army training
  17. race — the arms race
  18. shower — to wash
  19. current — happening now
  20. shower — rain
  21. land — a country
  22. drill — a practice
  23. band — a music group
  24. band — a rubber band

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