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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 120 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 · arm · last · rush · game · shower · bark · present

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. present — a gift
  4. present — the time now
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. bark — to shout
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. last — finally
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. court — for sport
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. shower — rain
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. court — of a king
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. last — final
  18. game — wild animals
  19. court — of law
  20. rush — hurry
  21. present — there
  22. game — a match
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. arm — a part of something

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