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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: trunk · march · net · hand · shower · wake · coach · court

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. court — of law
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. net — after costs
  6. court — for sport
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. march — music
  9. hand — in cards
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. march — the month
  13. wake — a trail
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. hand — help
  16. net — in sport
  17. net — for catching
  18. shower — rain
  19. march — the month
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. shower — to wash
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. coach — a trainer

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