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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: kid · pitch · rule · cold · shower · rush · degree · nail

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. shower — rain
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. degree — temperature
  11. rule — a law
  12. rush — hurry
  13. kid — to tease
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. cold — an illness
  16. degree — from a university
  17. shower — to wash
  18. pitch — completely
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. kid — child
  21. rule — government
  22. degree — an amount
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. nail — on a finger

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