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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: ruler · rush · land · squash · sharp · hand · shower · spell

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  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. rush — hurry
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. land — a country
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. shower — rain
  7. land — ground
  8. spell — letters
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. squash — to crush
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. spell — magic
  15. sharp — clever
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. squash — the sport
  20. land — to come down
  21. shower — to wash
  22. spell — a short time
  23. hand — in cards
  24. shower — a meteor shower

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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