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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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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: shower · cue · wake · club · saw · last · net · court

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. saw — the tool
  3. shower — to wash
  4. court — of a king
  5. club — a group
  6. cue — a hint
  7. cue — for pool
  8. court — of law
  9. last — finally
  10. cue — a signal
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. wake — a trail
  14. court — for sport
  15. last — final
  16. net — for catching
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. last — to go on
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. shower — rain
  21. net — after costs
  22. saw — the tool
  23. club — for dancing
  24. net — in sport

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