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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. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. court — for sport
  4. chest — of your body
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. mine — for digging
  10. pound — a weight
  11. court — of law
  12. bank — of a river
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. bank — for money
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. shower — rain
  17. bank — for money
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. shower — to wash
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. chest — of your body
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. chest — a box

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