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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: band · march · bay · stick · trunk · court · fall · shower

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. shower — to wash
  5. court — of law
  6. fall — to drop
  7. court — for sport
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. march — the month
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. fall — the season
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. court — of a king
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. shower — rain
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. band — a music group
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. band — a ring
  24. trunk — of a car

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