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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 · pitcher · wake · lean · cell · club · racket · shower

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. club — for golf
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. shower — to wash
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. wake — a trail
  7. club — for dancing
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. lean — to bend
  11. shower — rain
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. court — of a king
  14. cell — a phone
  15. lean — thin
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. club — a group
  18. cell — in biology
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. court — of law
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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