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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 116 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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. kick — in football
  3. file — a tool
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. rule — a law
  6. march — the month
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. march — the month
  9. shower — to wash
  10. press — to push
  11. march — music
  12. file — a line of people
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. net — for catching
  15. row — a line
  16. rule — government
  17. net — after costs
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. file — a document
  20. row — to paddle
  21. press — a publisher
  22. shower — rain
  23. press — newspapers
  24. net — in sport

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