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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 120 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 · mine · hand · content · shower · game · rest · bark

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. bark — to shout
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. rest — what's left
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. shower — to wash
  9. content — the amount
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. shower — rain
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. race — humankind
  14. hand — help
  15. race — the arms race
  16. game — a match
  17. rest — what's left
  18. game — wild animals
  19. content — happy
  20. rest — a break
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. hand — in cards
  24. race — a contest

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