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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. degree — an amount
  3. shower — to wash
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. pop — soda
  6. rule — government
  7. degree — from a university
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. game — a match
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. row — a line
  14. row — to paddle
  15. chair — a leader
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. game — wild animals
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. pop — music
  20. degree — temperature
  21. rule — a law
  22. pop — to visit
  23. capital — a city
  24. capital — money

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