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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: fall · bat · court · pop · lie · perch · shower · toast

  1. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lie — an untruth
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. toast — bread
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. bat — the animal
  8. lie — to recline
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. pop — soda
  11. fall — to drop
  12. pop — to visit
  13. shower — rain
  14. pop — music
  15. fall — the season
  16. court — of law
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. court — for sport
  19. shower — to wash
  20. court — of a king
  21. perch — the fish
  22. fall — to drop
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. perch — for a bird

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