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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: shower · fall · cabinet · season · chair · bat · rule · tube

  1. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. chair — a leader
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. fall — the season
  5. season — in sport
  6. rule — a law
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. bat — the animal
  9. tube — a container
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. fall — to drop
  16. shower — rain
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. rule — government
  19. tube — the underground
  20. shower — to wash
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. fall — to drop
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. season — of the year

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