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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cell · court · trunk · face · pitch · bank · pitcher · shower

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. face — to confront
  3. pitch — completely
  4. face — to point toward
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. court — of law
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. bank — for money
  9. cell — in biology
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. face — part of the head
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. bank — of a river
  16. bank — for money
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. cell — a phone
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. shower — rain
  22. court — for sport
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. court — of a king

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