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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
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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: court · fall · pound · hide · rush · degree · land · rule

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. fall — to drop
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. pound — a weight
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. rule — government
  9. fall — to drop
  10. degree — an amount
  11. court — of a king
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. land — to come down
  14. fall — the season
  15. court — of law
  16. land — a country
  17. rule — a law
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. degree — temperature
  20. court — for sport
  21. degree — from a university
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. land — ground
  24. hide — animal skin

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