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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 · sharp · kid · present · chest · track · mug · race

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. kid — to tease
  3. race — the arms race
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. present — there
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. mug — to rob
  8. kid — child
  9. present — a gift
  10. chest — of your body
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. chest — a box
  13. race — a contest
  14. mug — a face
  15. chest — of your body
  16. track — a path
  17. track — a song
  18. race — humankind
  19. mug — a cup
  20. shower — to wash
  21. sharp — clever
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. shower — rain
  24. track — to keep track

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