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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: club · rule · firm · court · key · shower · fall · bark

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. key — the most important part
  3. club — for dancing
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. fall — the season
  8. court — for sport
  9. shower — rain
  10. firm — decided
  11. firm — steady
  12. key — in music
  13. rule — a law
  14. court — of law
  15. shower — to wash
  16. key — for a lock
  17. club — for golf
  18. court — of a king
  19. firm — a company
  20. club — a group
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. bark — to shout
  23. rule — government
  24. fall — to drop

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