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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: swing · shower · court · fall · field · tear

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. tear — from crying
  3. fall — the season
  4. court — of law
  5. tear — to rip
  6. swing — music
  7. court — of a king
  8. field — for sport
  9. swing — in golf
  10. shower — to wash
  11. court — for sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. shower — rain
  14. tear — from crying
  15. field — a subject
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — to drop
  18. swing — to play on

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