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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: shower · coach · hand · suit · pound · snap · row · rule

  1. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — clothes
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. rule — government
  4. suit — in cards
  5. shower — to wash
  6. hand — in cards
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. suit — to fit
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. pound — a weight
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. row — a line
  13. hand — help
  14. rule — a law
  15. row — to paddle
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. snap — to click
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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