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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: cold · rule · shower · pound · rest · hide · net · rock

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — a break
  5. rock — music
  6. shower — rain
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. net — after costs
  11. net — for catching
  12. shower — to wash
  13. cold — not warm
  14. net — in sport
  15. rule — a law
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. rule — government
  18. rock — to move gently
  19. rest — what's left
  20. pound — a weight
  21. rock — a stone
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. cold — an illness

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