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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: march · game · shower · scale · squash · race · racket · file

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. shower — rain
  3. race — a contest
  4. shower — to wash
  5. file — a tool
  6. race — humankind
  7. march — music
  8. march — the month
  9. game — wild animals
  10. race — the arms race
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. march — the month
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. scale — in music
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. squash — to crush
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. file — a line of people
  20. scale — size or range
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. game — a match
  23. file — a document
  24. racket — for tennis

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