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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.

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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: capital · shower · wound · bear · file · rule · racket · saw

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. shower — rain
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. file — a tool
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bear — the animal
  7. capital — money
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. rule — government
  10. shower — to wash
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. bear — the animal
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. wound — an injury
  16. file — a line of people
  17. saw — the tool
  18. rule — a law
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. file — a document
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. saw — the tool
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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