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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  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. chair — a leader
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. band — a music group
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. shower — to wash
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. prune — to trim
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. land — a country
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. prune — to trim
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. band — a ring
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. land — ground
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. land — to come down
  22. rule — a law
  23. prune — the fruit
  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