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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 120 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: hide · court · shower · net · staff · land · chair · racket

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  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. land — to come down
  2. court — of law
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. court — for sport
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. chair — a leader
  7. net — in sport
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. shower — to wash
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. land — a country
  12. net — for catching
  13. staff — a stick
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. shower — rain
  17. land — ground
  18. staff — employees
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. net — after costs
  21. staff — employees
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. court — of a king
  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