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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: bat · cold · press · last · shower · ruler

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. shower — rain
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. bat — the animal
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. last — final
  7. cold — not warm
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. cold — an illness
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. last — finally
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. press — to push
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. shower — to wash
  16. press — newspapers
  17. press — a publisher
  18. last — to go on

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