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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: court · ball · cell · last · dip · net · shower · bass

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. bass — low music
  3. last — finally
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. court — for sport
  7. last — final
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. net — after costs
  10. court — of law
  11. last — to go on
  12. ball — a dance
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. ball — a great time
  15. dip — to sink
  16. net — in sport
  17. shower — to wash
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. bass — the fish
  20. net — for catching
  21. cell — a phone
  22. cell — in biology
  23. dip — to dunk
  24. court — of a king

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