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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. rash — hasty
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. bat — the animal
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. court — for sport
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — to wash
  16. rash — a series
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. court — of law

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