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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: lean · chip · drill · shower · capital · rule

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. shower — rain
  3. shower — to wash
  4. chip — to eat
  5. drill — army training
  6. capital — a city
  7. chip — for betting
  8. capital — money
  9. lean — thin
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. drill — the tool
  15. drill — a practice
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. rule — government
  18. rule — a law

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