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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. shower — to wash
  5. chest — of your body
  6. game — a match
  7. court — of a king
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. chest — a box
  10. rush — hurry
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. shower — rain
  13. wind — moving air
  14. rule — government
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. court — for sport
  18. game — wild animals
  19. court — of law
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. rule — a law
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. wind — to turn a key

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