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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: kid · court · rule · shower · squash · club · spring · roll

  1. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a list
  2. rule — a law
  3. kid — child
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. rule — government
  6. spring — a coil
  7. club — for golf
  8. court — of law
  9. club — a group
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. spring — the season
  12. roll — a cake
  13. shower — to wash
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. court — for sport
  16. shower — rain
  17. kid — to tease
  18. club — for dancing
  19. squash — the sport
  20. court — of a king
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. spring — of water
  24. squash — to crush

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