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

Word bank: shower · chip · rule · bat · pound · bowl

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. shower — rain
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. chip — to eat
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. shower — to wash
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. rule — government
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. pound — a weight
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. chip — for betting

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