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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: row · pound · cell · deal · racket · coach · net · shower

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. cell — a phone
  3. net — for catching
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. net — in sport
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. cell — in biology
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. deal — to handle
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. row — to paddle
  14. shower — to wash
  15. net — after costs
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. row — a line
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. pound — a weight
  21. shower — rain
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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