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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: wind · wound · bark · shower · roll · fall · court · wave

  1. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. fall — the season
  3. wound — an injury
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. court — of a king
  8. wind — moving air
  9. court — of law
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. shower — to wash
  12. fall — to drop
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. fall — to drop
  16. shower — rain
  17. roll — a list
  18. court — for sport
  19. roll — a cake
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. bark — to shout
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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