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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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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: shower · pop · rash · coach · pit · race · hand · capital

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. pit — a hole
  4. pop — soda
  5. race — the arms race
  6. race — a contest
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. pit — in a race
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. capital — money
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. capital — a city
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. shower — rain
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. rash — hasty
  19. rash — a series
  20. hand — help
  21. pop — to visit
  22. pop — music
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. race — humankind

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