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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 116 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: rush · rash · capital · land · wave · tear · race · kick

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  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. race — a contest
  2. land — a country
  3. tear — from crying
  4. race — the arms race
  5. land — to come down
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. rush — hurry
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. land — ground
  13. capital — money
  14. rash — hasty
  15. kick — in football
  16. tear — to rip
  17. rash — a series
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. capital — a city
  20. tear — from crying
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. rash — on the skin
  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