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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: coach · race · shower · rush · drill · tear · firm · ground

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. ground — a position
  3. firm — decided
  4. rush — hurry
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. firm — a company
  7. ground — crushed
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. ground — the earth
  10. shower — to wash
  11. race — humankind
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. firm — steady
  15. drill — the tool
  16. tear — to rip
  17. tear — from crying
  18. drill — a practice
  19. race — the arms race
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. drill — army training
  22. shower — rain
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. race — a contest

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