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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 116 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: shower · chair · rule · calf · last · wind · band · rest

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. rest — what's left
  4. band — a ring
  5. wind — moving air
  6. rest — a break
  7. chair — a leader
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. shower — rain
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. last — final
  13. rule — a law
  14. last — to go on
  15. rule — government
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. shower — to wash
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. band — a music group
  20. rest — what's left
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. last — finally
  23. wind — moving air
  24. band — a rubber band

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