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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 · perch · bowl · drill · game · shower · clip · bulb

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. shower — to wash
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. drill — army training
  5. game — a match
  6. perch — the fish
  7. drill — a practice
  8. clip — a video
  9. bulb — for light
  10. court — of law
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. drill — the tool
  15. shower — rain
  16. clip — to cut
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. court — of a king
  19. bulb — for light
  20. court — for sport
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. game — wild animals
  24. clip — for paper

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