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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: tear · race · coach · hand · row · rush · stem · bass

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. race — a contest
  3. bass — low music
  4. tear — from crying
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. hand — in cards
  9. stem — to come from
  10. row — a line
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. hand — help
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — to rip
  17. race — humankind
  18. row — to paddle
  19. bass — the fish
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. rush — hurry
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. race — the arms race
  24. rush — a thrill

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