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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: game · rock · shower · bulb · race · bat · tear · craft

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. tear — to rip
  6. bat — the animal
  7. race — a contest
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. race — the arms race
  10. rock — a stone
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. shower — rain
  13. shower — to wash
  14. rock — music
  15. tear — from crying
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. game — wild animals
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. tear — from crying
  21. bulb — for light
  22. craft — a skill
  23. craft — boats
  24. race — humankind

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