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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 116 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: club · shower · land · press · rule · pitcher · cold · racket

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. club — for golf
  3. press — newspapers
  4. shower — rain
  5. cold — an illness
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. shower — to wash
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. rule — a law
  10. rule — government
  11. press — a publisher
  12. land — to come down
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. land — a country
  15. cold — not warm
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. land — ground
  19. club — a group
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. press — to push
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. club — for dancing

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