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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: degree · tube · lie · chest · bay · rule · field · shower

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. field — farmland
  3. tube — a container
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. shower — to wash
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. chest — a box
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. lie — to recline
  13. rule — a law
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. chest — of your body
  16. degree — an amount
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. shower — rain
  19. field — a subject
  20. field — for sport
  21. degree — from a university
  22. tube — the underground
  23. degree — temperature
  24. lie — an untruth

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