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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: dip · ball · race · row · mine · shower · clip · pitch

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. race — humankind
  4. race — the arms race
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. race — a contest
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. row — to paddle
  11. mine — for digging
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. pitch — completely
  14. clip — for paper
  15. ball — a dance
  16. clip — a video
  17. clip — to cut
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. shower — to wash
  20. shower — rain
  21. row — a line
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. dip — to sink

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