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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: rule · shower · bat · sharp · bark · pop · can · bass

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. shower — rain
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. sharp — clever
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. pop — music
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bass — low music
  11. can — a tin
  12. rule — a law
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. can — to be able to
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. rule — government
  19. can — a tin
  20. bass — the fish
  21. pop — to visit
  22. pop — soda
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. bark — to shout

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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