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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. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. rule — a law
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. hand — help
  9. bulb — for light
  10. bulb — for light
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. game — wild animals
  13. club — a group
  14. shower — rain
  15. ground — crushed
  16. ground — a position
  17. spring — of water
  18. club — for golf
  19. spring — the season
  20. spring — a coil
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. ground — the earth
  23. shower — to wash
  24. club — for dancing

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