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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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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 · race · mark · sharp · tear · rush · club · chip

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. mark — a trace
  3. tear — from crying
  4. club — for dancing
  5. race — a contest
  6. rush — hurry
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. mark — a grade
  12. club — a group
  13. shower — rain
  14. sharp — clever
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — to rip
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. chip — to eat
  20. race — humankind
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. race — the arms race
  24. chip — for betting

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