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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.

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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 · cold · fall · chair · track · hand · patient · shower

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. fall — the season
  4. court — of a king
  5. track — to keep track
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. court — for sport
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. cold — not warm
  10. shower — rain
  11. track — a song
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. shower — to wash
  15. hand — help
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. track — a path
  18. hand — in cards
  19. fall — to drop
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. fall — to drop
  22. cold — an illness
  23. chair — a leader
  24. cold — the Cold War

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