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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 116 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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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: shower · wind · perch · current · trunk · key · court · cell

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. court — of law
  3. court — for sport
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. key — for a lock
  6. current — of water
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. wind — moving air
  9. perch — the fish
  10. wind — moving air
  11. shower — to wash
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. key — in music
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. shower — rain
  17. current — electric
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. court — of a king
  20. cell — a phone
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. key — the most important part
  24. current — happening now

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