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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: band · shower · race · kid · row · key · face · pitch

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. shower — to wash
  3. kid — child
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. kid — to tease
  6. pitch — completely
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. band — a ring
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. race — the arms race
  12. face — part of the head
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. band — a music group
  15. face — to confront
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a line
  19. face — to point toward
  20. key — in music
  21. shower — rain
  22. race — a contest
  23. key — the most important part
  24. key — for a lock

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