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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: rule · wound · march · shower · present · bat · wave · row

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. shower — rain
  5. march — the month
  6. bat — the animal
  7. row — a line
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. march — the month
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. present — there
  15. present — a gift
  16. shower — to wash
  17. rule — government
  18. march — music
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. present — the time now
  22. row — to paddle
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. bat — for baseball

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