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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: shower · mouse · press · rule · fall · row

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. press — to push
  3. row — a line
  4. shower — to wash
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. press — a publisher
  8. fall — the season
  9. fall — to drop
  10. shower — rain
  11. rule — a law
  12. press — newspapers
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. rule — government
  16. fall — to drop
  17. row — to paddle
  18. mouse — for a computer

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