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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: row · hand · saw · game · court · pound · coach · shower

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. saw — the tool
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. game — a match
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. shower — to wash
  8. pound — a weight
  9. hand — help
  10. court — for sport
  11. game — wild animals
  12. row — a line
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. row — to paddle
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. court — of a king
  19. shower — rain
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. hand — in cards
  22. saw — the tool
  23. court — of law
  24. coach — a trainer

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