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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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Word bank
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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: court · shower · bowl · mouse · nail · race · current · game

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. current — electric
  5. court — of law
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. game — wild animals
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. race — the arms race
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. shower — rain
  15. current — happening now
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. game — a match
  18. current — of water
  19. race — humankind
  20. court — for sport
  21. race — a contest
  22. shower — to wash
  23. court — of a king
  24. game — a kind of play

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