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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 116 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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. shower — rain
  3. swing — in golf
  4. sharp — clever
  5. court — of a king
  6. shower — to wash
  7. scale — size or range
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. court — for sport
  10. capital — money
  11. swing — music
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. capital — a city
  14. swing — to play on
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. tear — to rip
  19. court — of law
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. tear — from crying
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. tear — from crying
  24. scale — in music

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