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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 116 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: march · race · fall · tear · row · coach · lash · shower

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. fall — to drop
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. race — the arms race
  6. race — humankind
  7. row — a line
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. race — a contest
  10. tear — to rip
  11. march — the month
  12. row — to paddle
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. march — the month
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. shower — rain
  17. tear — from crying
  18. shower — to wash
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. fall — to drop
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. march — music
  24. tear — from crying

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