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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 120 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: land · scale · stem · rule · ground · row · bulb · shower

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. ground — a position
  3. rule — a law
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. ground — crushed
  6. row — to paddle
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. scale — in music
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. stem — to come from
  12. shower — rain
  13. land — a country
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. land — ground
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. bulb — for light
  18. ground — the earth
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. scale — size or range
  21. shower — to wash
  22. bulb — for light
  23. land — to come down
  24. row — a line

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