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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: race · shower · chest · ground · pitcher · bay · sharp · last

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  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 — a position
  2. ground — crushed
  3. sharp — clever
  4. last — to go on
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. chest — of your body
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. shower — rain
  10. chest — of your body
  11. ground — the earth
  12. last — finally
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. last — final
  17. race — the arms race
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. shower — to wash
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. chest — a box
  23. race — a contest
  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