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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: wound · bank · pitcher · court · toast · shower · dip · game

  1. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. court — for sport
  3. court — of law
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. game — wild animals
  6. toast — bread
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. bank — for money
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. shower — to wash
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. wound — an injury
  14. court — of a king
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. dip — to sink
  17. bank — of a river
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. wound — an injury
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. game — a match
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. shower — rain

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