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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 · nail · shower · kick · pass · trunk · spell · cold

  1. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. shower — to wash
  6. kick — in football
  7. race — humankind
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. spell — magic
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. spell — a short time
  12. pass — a permit
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. race — the arms race
  15. spell — letters
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. race — a contest
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. cold — not warm
  21. shower — rain
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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