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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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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: pop · deal · rest · row · shower · temple · court · file

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. court — for sport
  3. rest — what's left
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. row — a line
  6. pop — soda
  7. deal — to handle
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. row — to paddle
  11. rest — a break
  12. file — a line of people
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. pop — music
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a document
  19. rest — what's left
  20. court — of a king
  21. shower — rain
  22. court — of law
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. temple — a place of worship

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