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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: deal · court · season · straw · prune · wave · shower · coach

  1. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  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. wave — with your hand
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. prune — to trim
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. prune — to trim
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. season — in sport
  8. court — of a king
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. deal — to handle
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. shower — rain
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. season — of the year
  17. court — for sport
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. shower — to wash
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. court — of law
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — a straw man
  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