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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: bat · rash · shower · firm · race · pit · march · tear

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. race — the arms race
  5. firm — a company
  6. tear — from crying
  7. shower — rain
  8. bat — the animal
  9. firm — steady
  10. pit — in a race
  11. march — the month
  12. march — music
  13. march — the month
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. tear — to rip
  16. rash — hasty
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. race — humankind
  19. shower — to wash
  20. tear — from crying
  21. rash — a series
  22. firm — decided
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. pit — a hole

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