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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: shower · pitcher · wound · hide · nail · fan · wake · court

  1. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. wound — an injury
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. court — for sport
  5. shower — to wash
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. court — of law
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. wound — an injury
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. shower — rain
  23. court — of a king
  24. hide — animal skin

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