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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. shower — to wash
  7. drill — army training
  8. drill — a practice
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. drill — the tool
  11. hand — in cards
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. court — of law
  14. chair — a leader
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. perch — the fish
  19. hand — help
  20. shower — rain
  21. court — of a king
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. court — for sport

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