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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: shower · club · pitch · kid · court · wake · band · bowl

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. court — for sport
  3. band — a ring
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. court — of a king
  6. club — for dancing
  7. club — a group
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. band — a music group
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. bowl — a football final
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. wake — a trail
  15. kid — child
  16. pitch — completely
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. kid — to tease
  20. shower — rain
  21. court — of law
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. club — for golf

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