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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: jam · clip · file · shower · court · fall · pound · game

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. file — a line of people
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. clip — for paper
  5. fall — to drop
  6. file — a tool
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. game — wild animals
  10. fall — the season
  11. pound — a weight
  12. game — a match
  13. file — a document
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. clip — to cut
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. clip — a video
  18. fall — to drop
  19. court — of law
  20. court — of a king
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — to wash

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