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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 captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. board — to get on
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. rule — a law
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. board — a committee
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — for sport
  11. wound — an injury
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. shower — to wash
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cell — a phone
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. wound — an injury
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. field — a subject
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. cell — in biology
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. rule — government

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