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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: cold · rule · shower · pound · rest · hide

  1. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. rest — what's left
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. rule — government
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. cold — not warm
  8. shower — to wash
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. rule — a law
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. pound — a weight
  16. shower — rain
  17. rest — what's left
  18. cold — an illness

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