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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: fork · shower · face · rule · pop · nail · tear · court

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. tear — to rip
  3. rule — government
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. tear — from crying
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. face — to confront
  8. tear — from crying
  9. pop — to visit
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. face — part of the head
  13. fork — in a road
  14. court — for sport
  15. court — of a king
  16. shower — rain
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. face — to point toward
  19. rule — a law
  20. pop — music
  21. pop — soda
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. court — of law
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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