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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: nail · wax · shower · game · rule · racket · fall · rash

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. fall — to drop
  3. rule — a law
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. fall — to drop
  7. rash — a series
  8. game — a match
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. wax — to grow
  11. rash — hasty
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. fall — the season
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. rule — government
  18. shower — to wash
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. game — wild animals
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. shower — rain

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