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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: rush · shower · squash · file · sharp · kick · tube · track

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. sharp — clever
  3. track — to keep track
  4. track — a path
  5. file — a line of people
  6. track — a song
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. squash — the sport
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. shower — to wash
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. file — a document
  14. shower — rain
  15. tube — a container
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. kick — in football
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. tube — the underground
  22. squash — to crush
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. file — a tool

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