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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: chest · rash · race · season · shower · march · firm · wake

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. chest — of your body
  3. race — a contest
  4. wake — a trail
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. chest — of your body
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. shower — rain
  9. chest — a box
  10. shower — to wash
  11. firm — decided
  12. firm — a company
  13. march — the month
  14. race — the arms race
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. firm — steady
  17. season — in sport
  18. season — of the year
  19. race — humankind
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. march — the month
  22. march — music
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. rash — a series

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