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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: court · bass · cabinet · rule · current · shower · rest · land

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. current — electric
  3. rule — a law
  4. court — for sport
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. rule — government
  8. current — of water
  9. court — of law
  10. current — happening now
  11. rest — what's left
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. shower — rain
  14. rest — a break
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. bass — low music
  17. land — to come down
  18. court — of a king
  19. bass — the fish
  20. land — ground
  21. rest — what's left
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. land — a country
  24. shower — to wash

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