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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: ball · fan · rule · root · shower · chest · sharp · mouse

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. ball — a dance
  4. chest — of your body
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. rule — a law
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. chest — of your body
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. rule — government
  16. root — of a word
  17. sharp — clever
  18. root — the cause
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. root — of a plant
  21. shower — to wash
  22. shower — rain
  23. chest — a box
  24. ball — a great time

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