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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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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: tube · ground · field · bear · shower · race · rash · jam

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. field — for sport
  3. rash — a series
  4. tube — a container
  5. rash — hasty
  6. ground — crushed
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. field — a subject
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. tube — the underground
  12. bear — the animal
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. race — a contest
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. race — humankind
  18. field — farmland
  19. ground — a position
  20. shower — to wash
  21. race — the arms race
  22. ground — the earth
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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