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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · land · kick · date · roll · rule · patient · wax

  1. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — government
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. kick — in football
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. roll — a cake
  6. wax — to grow
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. land — to come down
  12. roll — a list
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. date — the fruit
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. land — ground
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. land — a country
  21. shower — rain
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. rule — a law
  24. shower — to wash

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