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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: jam · shower · band · cell · rash · arm · present · court

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. band — a ring
  3. present — a gift
  4. rash — hasty
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. court — of law
  8. rash — a series
  9. cell — a phone
  10. shower — to wash
  11. court — for sport
  12. cell — in biology
  13. band — a music group
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. court — of a king
  22. present — there
  23. present — the time now
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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