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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: rule · tear · chair · shower · game · foot

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. rule — a law
  3. game — wild animals
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. foot — a measure
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. tear — from crying
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. tear — to rip
  11. game — a match
  12. shower — rain
  13. tear — from crying
  14. shower — to wash
  15. chair — a leader
  16. rule — government
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. chair — to sit 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