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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 120 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: spring · land · race · rash · content · drill · track · shower

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. race — the arms race
  3. drill — army training
  4. shower — rain
  5. track — a path
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. track — a song
  8. shower — to wash
  9. drill — a practice
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. spring — of water
  12. rash — a series
  13. spring — a coil
  14. content — the amount
  15. rash — hasty
  16. land — to come down
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. race — humankind
  19. race — a contest
  20. land — ground
  21. content — happy
  22. drill — the tool
  23. track — to keep track
  24. land — a country

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