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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 · present · rock · squash · pitcher · stand · hand · shower

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. court — for sport
  3. present — the time now
  4. shower — to wash
  5. squash — the sport
  6. stand — to bear
  7. present — there
  8. court — of law
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. court — of a king
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. hand — help
  13. hand — in cards
  14. shower — rain
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. squash — to crush
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. present — a gift
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. rock — a stone
  24. hand — part of the body

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