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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: chip · shower · rule · chair · hide · field · saw · fall

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. field — for sport
  3. chip — for betting
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. chip — to eat
  6. fall — to drop
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. field — farmland
  9. saw — the tool
  10. shower — to wash
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. rule — government
  13. saw — the tool
  14. rule — a law
  15. field — a subject
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — the season
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. shower — rain
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. hide — to keep secret

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