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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: face · court · game · bass · nail · cold · shower · suit

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. court — of law
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. court — for sport
  7. face — part of the head
  8. court — of a king
  9. bass — low music
  10. shower — to wash
  11. cold — an illness
  12. suit — to fit
  13. face — to point toward
  14. shower — rain
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. suit — clothes
  18. face — to confront
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. game — a match
  22. suit — in cards
  23. game — wild animals
  24. nail — for a hammer

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