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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. staff — employees
  3. field — farmland
  4. fall — the season
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. staff — employees
  7. staff — a stick
  8. can — to be able to
  9. fall — to drop
  10. can — a tin
  11. shower — rain
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. fall — to drop
  14. court — for sport
  15. court — of law
  16. wound — an injury
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. court — of a king
  19. can — a tin
  20. field — for sport
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. field — a subject
  24. wound — an injury

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