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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: trunk · shower · bound · file · net · hand · court · wave

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. file — a document
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. court — of law
  5. bound — tied together
  6. shower — to wash
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. file — a line of people
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. net — in sport
  11. file — a tool
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. bound — certain
  15. hand — in cards
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. bound — obliged
  18. court — of a king
  19. net — for catching
  20. hand — help
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. net — after costs
  23. shower — rain
  24. trunk — of a car

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