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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.

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: shower · row · file · cold · rule · ball · lean · roll

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We're on a ________________ here.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. cold — an illness
  4. ball — a dance
  5. file — a tool
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. row — a line
  12. roll — a list
  13. shower — to wash
  14. file — a line of people
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. rule — government
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. lean — thin
  19. ball — a great time
  20. lean — to bend
  21. roll — a cake
  22. file — a document
  23. roll — on a roll
  24. row — to paddle

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