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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: rule · race · chest · ball · rock · shower · stock · calf

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  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. rock — music
  2. rule — a law
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. race — a contest
  5. rock — a stone
  6. stock — goods
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. chest — of your body
  9. stock — shares
  10. shower — rain
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. ball — a dance
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. race — humankind
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. rule — government
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. shower — to wash
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. race — the arms race
  21. chest — of your body
  22. ball — a great time
  23. calf — a young animal
  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