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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 120 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: key · shower · pop · court · fall · ruler · straw · land

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. key — for a lock
  4. court — of law
  5. shower — rain
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. pop — soda
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. land — a country
  10. fall — to drop
  11. court — for sport
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. key — in music
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. land — to come down
  17. fall — to drop
  18. key — the most important part
  19. pop — to visit
  20. court — of a king
  21. land — ground
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. shower — to wash
  24. pop — music

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