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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: rush · coach · content · race · pitcher · kick · tear · rest

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. tear — from crying
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. rest — what's left
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. race — humankind
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. race — a contest
  11. tear — to rip
  12. kick — in football
  13. tear — from crying
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. rush — hurry
  16. rest — a break
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. race — the arms race
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. content — the amount

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