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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. face — part of the head
  7. press — a publisher
  8. rule — government
  9. shower — to wash
  10. press — to push
  11. press — newspapers
  12. cell — a phone
  13. cell — in biology
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. rule — a law
  16. fall — to drop
  17. face — to point toward
  18. fall — to drop
  19. kid — to tease
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. face — to confront
  22. kid — child
  23. fall — the season
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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