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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. row — to paddle
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. pop — to visit
  7. shower — rain
  8. lie — to recline
  9. pop — music
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. row — a line
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. stem — to come from
  14. bass — low music
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. shower — to wash
  17. bass — the fish
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. court — of law
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. court — of a king
  24. pop — soda

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