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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 124 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 · chest · object · roll · current · mine · branch

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  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. chest — a box
  2. roll — a cake
  3. object — an aim
  4. roll — a list
  5. current — of water
  6. court — of law
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. current — happening now
  9. court — for sport
  10. mine — for digging
  11. shower — rain
  12. chest — of your body
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. current — electric
  15. branch — a division
  16. object — to protest
  17. chest — of your body
  18. shower — to wash
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. object — a thing
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. mine — an explosive
  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