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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: club · shower · pitcher · race · hide · charge · snap · court

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. snap — to click
  3. club — a group
  4. shower — to wash
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. race — a contest
  7. club — for dancing
  8. race — the arms race
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. charge — a price
  11. court — of law
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. court — for sport
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. race — humankind
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. club — for golf
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. charge — electricity
  21. court — of a king
  22. charge — in control
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. shower — rain

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