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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 124 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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. shower — rain
  3. lean — thin
  4. rule — government
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. root — of a word
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. rule — a law
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. hand — help
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a document
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. date — the fruit
  17. shower — to wash
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. lean — to bend
  20. root — the cause
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. file — a line of people
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. root — of a plant

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