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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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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: row · kid · net · kick · race · fall · shower · mouse

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. shower — rain
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. net — for catching
  7. race — a contest
  8. race — humankind
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. net — after costs
  12. net — in sport
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. row — a line
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — the season
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. kick — in football
  19. shower — to wash
  20. fall — to drop
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. kid — to tease
  23. race — the arms race
  24. row — to paddle

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