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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: fan · hide · rule · mate · shower · present · cold · race

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  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. hide — to keep secret
  2. rule — government
  3. mate — to breed
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. shower — to wash
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. race — the arms race
  9. rule — a law
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. present — a gift
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. mate — a friend
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. race — a contest
  16. present — the time now
  17. mate — a partner
  18. race — humankind
  19. present — there
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. cold — an illness
  22. cold — not warm
  23. fan — a supporter
  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