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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: shower · snap · band · race · rash · row · rush · pitcher

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. row — to paddle
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. band — a ring
  7. rash — hasty
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. row — a line
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. snap — to click
  13. race — a contest
  14. shower — rain
  15. race — the arms race
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. band — a music group
  21. race — humankind
  22. rush — hurry
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. rash — a series

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