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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: date · present · shower · last · trunk · court · spring · ball

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. ball — a great time
  3. court — for sport
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. shower — rain
  6. spring — a coil
  7. present — the time now
  8. spring — of water
  9. spring — the season
  10. present — a gift
  11. shower — to wash
  12. last — finally
  13. court — of a king
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. ball — a dance
  18. date — the fruit
  19. last — to go on
  20. court — of law
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. last — final
  24. date — on the calendar

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