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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: wind · rule · key · net · drill · shower · band · cap

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wind — moving air
  3. rule — a law
  4. net — for catching
  5. drill — a practice
  6. cap — a hat
  7. net — after costs
  8. key — the most important part
  9. rule — government
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. key — in music
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. band — a ring
  15. cap — a lid
  16. net — in sport
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. drill — the tool
  19. band — a music group
  20. cap — of ice
  21. shower — rain
  22. drill — army training
  23. key — for a lock
  24. wind — moving air

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