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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: court · land · stick · ground · pound · club · shower · roll

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. ground — the earth
  4. shower — to wash
  5. ground — a position
  6. club — a group
  7. club — for dancing
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. court — of law
  10. roll — a list
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. court — for sport
  13. pound — a weight
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. club — for golf
  17. land — ground
  18. court — of a king
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. land — to come down
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. ground — crushed
  24. roll — a cake

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