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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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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: race · land · shower · rule · sharp · swing · stem · bear

  1. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — the arms race
  2. shower — to wash
  3. swing — in golf
  4. race — humankind
  5. bear — the animal
  6. land — ground
  7. swing — to play on
  8. rule — a law
  9. land — to come down
  10. race — a contest
  11. swing — music
  12. sharp — clever
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. stem — to come from
  15. bear — the animal
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. rule — government
  18. shower — rain
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. land — a country
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. sharp — exactly

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