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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: court · shower · wind · last · deal · bat · arm · cue

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. court — of law
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. cue — for pool
  5. deal — to handle
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. court — for sport
  9. shower — to wash
  10. shower — rain
  11. last — to go on
  12. last — final
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. cue — a signal
  16. court — of a king
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. bat — the animal
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. cue — a hint
  21. last — finally
  22. wind — moving air
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. deal — a big deal

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