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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: shower · pit · perch · prune · file · hand · rule · date

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  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. rule — government
  2. file — a line of people
  3. pit — a hole
  4. prune — to trim
  5. shower — to wash
  6. rule — a law
  7. hand — help
  8. perch — the fish
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. hand — in cards
  12. pit — in a race
  13. file — a document
  14. file — a tool
  15. prune — to trim
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. date — the fruit
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. date — on the calendar
  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