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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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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. shower — rain
  5. mate — a friend
  6. shower — to wash
  7. row — a line
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. mate — a partner
  12. court — for sport
  13. mate — to breed
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. court — of a king
  16. row — to paddle
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. trunk — of an elephant

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