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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: game · march · racket · shower · object · chest · race · snap

  1. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. shower — to wash
  4. game — wild animals
  5. game — a match
  6. object — to protest
  7. race — humankind
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. chest — of your body
  10. shower — rain
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. object — an aim
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. chest — of your body
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. race — the arms race
  19. object — a thing
  20. race — a contest
  21. march — the month
  22. snap — to click
  23. march — music
  24. chest — a box

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