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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: rash · hand · hide · pit · shower · band · squash · game

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. game — wild animals
  4. pit — in a race
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. rash — a series
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. hand — help
  10. squash — to crush
  11. shower — to wash
  12. band — a ring
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. game — a match
  15. rash — hasty
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. shower — rain
  18. pit — a hole
  19. hand — in cards
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. band — a music group
  24. hide — animal skin

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