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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 116 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: court · fall · march · bat · mug · rule · fine · shower

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. march — the month
  3. court — of a king
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. shower — to wash
  6. shower — rain
  7. fall — to drop
  8. court — for sport
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. march — music
  14. mug — to rob
  15. court — of law
  16. mug — a cup
  17. mug — a face
  18. bat — the animal
  19. fine — high quality
  20. fine — all right
  21. rule — government
  22. march — the month
  23. fall — the season
  24. rule — a law

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