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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: rule · shower · ground · fine · mine · swing · cold · cell

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. swing — in golf
  3. ground — a position
  4. ground — crushed
  5. shower — rain
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. cell — in biology
  9. shower — to wash
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. ground — the earth
  13. rule — a law
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. cell — a phone
  16. fine — all right
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. fine — high quality
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — an illness
  22. swing — music
  23. mine — for digging
  24. swing — to play on

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