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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 120 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: fall · plane · swing · race · row · shower · patient · pitcher

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. race — humankind
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. swing — to play on
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. race — a contest
  7. row — a line
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. race — the arms race
  10. fall — to drop
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. plane — a tool
  13. swing — in golf
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — to wash
  16. swing — music
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — the season
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. row — to paddle
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. pitcher — a jug

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