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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: kid · bat · capital · cell · rash · rush · shower · ruler

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. rush — hurry
  4. kid — to tease
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. kid — child
  8. capital — a city
  9. bat — the animal
  10. shower — to wash
  11. capital — money
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. cell — in biology
  14. shower — rain
  15. rash — hasty
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. rash — a series
  23. cell — a phone
  24. capital — a big letter

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