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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cell · ball · shower · pit · trunk · march · court · hand

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. court — for sport
  4. hand — help
  5. ball — a great time
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. cell — a phone
  9. pit — in a race
  10. pit — a hole
  11. court — of law
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. march — the month
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. cell — in biology
  19. march — the month
  20. shower — to wash
  21. ball — a dance
  22. shower — rain
  23. hand — in cards
  24. march — music

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