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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 · race · shower · bowl · deal · band · charge · row

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. shower — rain
  3. band — a music group
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. charge — a price
  10. row — to paddle
  11. row — a line
  12. race — humankind
  13. deal — to handle
  14. shower — to wash
  15. race — a contest
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. game — wild animals
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. charge — electricity
  20. game — a match
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. charge — in control
  23. race — the arms race
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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