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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: shower · hide · rule · hand · foot · object · bat · dip

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. object — a thing
  7. object — an aim
  8. shower — to wash
  9. foot — a measure
  10. bat — the animal
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — help
  18. object — to protest
  19. rule — a law
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. dip — to sink
  22. shower — rain
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. rule — government

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