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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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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: shower · chip · bear · fine · court · bat · rush · mark

  1. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. shower — to wash
  3. bear — the animal
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. chip — to eat
  7. court — for sport
  8. mark — a grade
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. fine — all right
  11. fine — high quality
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. rush — hurry
  14. court — of a king
  15. chip — for betting
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bear — the animal
  19. court — of law
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. shower — rain
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. fine — a penalty

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