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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: shower · sharp · court · bay · last · track · toast · rock

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. track — a song
  4. last — final
  5. court — of law
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. sharp — clever
  8. track — to keep track
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. court — of a king
  11. rock — music
  12. shower — to wash
  13. toast — bread
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. last — to go on
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. last — finally
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. rock — a stone
  23. shower — rain
  24. track — a path

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