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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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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: ground · cold · court · cell · net · rest · band · shower

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. ground — the earth
  3. rest — a break
  4. net — for catching
  5. rest — what's left
  6. court — of law
  7. band — a music group
  8. ground — crushed
  9. net — after costs
  10. cell — in biology
  11. net — in sport
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. shower — rain
  15. court — for sport
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. ground — a position
  18. cold — an illness
  19. shower — to wash
  20. court — of a king
  21. rest — what's left
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cell — a phone
  24. band — a ring

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