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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: rule · content · season · shower · tear · ball · wind · rest

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. rest — what's left
  3. season — of the year
  4. tear — to rip
  5. tear — from crying
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. ball — a dance
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wind — moving air
  10. season — in sport
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. rule — government
  13. rule — a law
  14. rest — what's left
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. wind — moving air
  17. content — happy
  18. tear — from crying
  19. shower — to wash
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — rain
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. content — the amount
  24. rest — a break

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