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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: fall · shower · wind · rule · toast · chair · can · degree

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. degree — from a university
  3. fall — to drop
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. toast — bread
  7. fall — the season
  8. can — a tin
  9. rule — a law
  10. rule — government
  11. can — a tin
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. wind — moving air
  14. fall — to drop
  15. can — to be able to
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. degree — temperature
  18. shower — rain
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. shower — to wash
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. chair — a leader
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. degree — an amount

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