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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: shower · last · cell · stick · rule · fall · key · chair

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. last — finally
  3. fall — the season
  4. rule — government
  5. fall — to drop
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. rule — a law
  8. cell — a phone
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. chair — a leader
  11. shower — to wash
  12. cell — in biology
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. shower — rain
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. fall — to drop
  20. key — for a lock
  21. key — the most important part
  22. key — in music
  23. last — to go on
  24. last — final

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