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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: sharp · shower · hand · court · wake · cabinet · land · calf

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. land — to come down
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. court — of law
  7. calf — of the leg
  8. land — a country
  9. court — of a king
  10. sharp — clever
  11. court — for sport
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. land — ground
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. hand — help
  16. shower — rain
  17. wake — a trail
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. shower — to wash
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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