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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: kid · rest · nail · shower · ground · court · rule · bat

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. rest — what's left
  4. ground — the earth
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. rest — what's left
  7. rest — a break
  8. kid — child
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. kid — to tease
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. court — of a king
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. court — for sport
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. court — of law
  17. ground — crushed
  18. shower — rain
  19. bat — the animal
  20. shower — to wash
  21. rule — a law
  22. ground — a position
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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