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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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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: race · bat · tube · coach · tear · mate · ground · shower

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  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. ground — the earth
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. mate — a partner
  4. tube — a container
  5. bat — the animal
  6. race — the arms race
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. tube — the underground
  9. tear — from crying
  10. mate — to breed
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. shower — rain
  13. ground — a position
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. shower — to wash
  17. mate — a friend
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. ground — crushed
  21. race — a contest
  22. tear — from crying
  23. tear — to rip
  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