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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: last · court · rock · bowl · spell · shower · kick · hand

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. bowl — to roll
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. last — finally
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. hand — help
  7. court — of a king
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. shower — to wash
  10. kick — in football
  11. spell — a short time
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. spell — magic
  14. last — to go on
  15. court — of law
  16. court — for sport
  17. rock — a stone
  18. last — final
  19. rock — music
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. hand — in cards
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. rock — to move gently

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