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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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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: squash · court · shower · straw · sharp · bay · calf · tear

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. sharp — clever
  3. tear — to rip
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. tear — from crying
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. squash — to crush
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. shower — to wash
  11. squash — the sport
  12. tear — from crying
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. court — of law
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. shower — rain
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. court — of a king
  24. squash — the vegetable

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