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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: spring · key · swing · race · date · shower · pitch · rush

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  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. shower — to wash
  2. spring — of water
  3. date — the fruit
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. rush — hurry
  6. spring — a coil
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. shower — rain
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. pitch — completely
  11. key — for a lock
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. race — humankind
  14. swing — music
  15. race — the arms race
  16. key — in music
  17. swing — in golf
  18. key — the most important part
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. spring — the season
  23. swing — to play on
  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