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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: coach · bark · shower · court · firm · mine · perch · spring

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. court — of a king
  3. bark — to shout
  4. firm — a company
  5. firm — decided
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. spring — of water
  8. firm — steady
  9. court — of law
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. perch — the fish
  12. mine — for digging
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. spring — a coil
  15. court — for sport
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. spring — the season
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. shower — to wash
  24. mine — an explosive

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