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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: mine · shower · rash · jam · content · race · chair · file

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. file — a document
  3. content — the amount
  4. jam — a tight spot
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. file — a tool
  9. rash — a series
  10. content — happy
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. rash — hasty
  13. shower — rain
  14. chair — a leader
  15. file — a line of people
  16. mine — for digging
  17. race — a contest
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. race — the arms race
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. race — humankind
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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