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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 116 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: season · suit · wound · track · court · row · file · shower

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. When will it ________________ you to start?
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. suit — clothes
  3. court — for sport
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. suit — to fit
  7. row — a line
  8. track — a song
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. suit — in cards
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. file — a tool
  13. shower — rain
  14. wound — an injury
  15. track — to keep track
  16. season — in sport
  17. season — of the year
  18. court — of law
  19. file — a line of people
  20. file — a document
  21. track — a path
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. court — of a king
  24. row — to paddle

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