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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: shower · track · fall · row · chest · plane · court · race

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. race — a contest
  4. court — of a king
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. fall — the season
  10. row — to paddle
  11. row — a line
  12. track — a song
  13. court — of law
  14. track — a path
  15. race — the arms race
  16. race — humankind
  17. court — for sport
  18. track — to keep track
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. shower — rain
  21. shower — to wash
  22. chest — a box
  23. fall — to drop
  24. plane — a tool

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