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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  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. cold — the Cold War
  3. club — for dancing
  4. rest — what's left
  5. cap — a hat
  6. rule — a law
  7. file — a line of people
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. cap — of ice
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rest — a break
  13. cold — not warm
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a city
  16. cold — an illness
  17. club — for golf
  18. cap — a lid
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. file — a tool
  21. shower — to wash
  22. club — a group
  23. file — a document
  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