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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: shower · game · chair · can · prune · mine · fan · rule

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  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. shower — a meteor shower
  2. shower — to wash
  3. prune — to trim
  4. game — a match
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. game — wild animals
  7. can — a tin
  8. can — to be able to
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. prune — to trim
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. mine — for digging
  16. chair — a leader
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. shower — rain
  20. can — a tin
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. rule — a law
  23. fan — to cool the air
  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