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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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468
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: shower · court · game · pitch · leaves · date · bulb · tube

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. I've got to change the light ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. shower — to wash
  3. bulb — for light
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. game — wild animals
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. court — of law
  10. shower — rain
  11. tube — a container
  12. game — a match
  13. court — of a king
  14. leaves — to go away
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. bulb — for light
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. pitch — completely
  21. tube — the underground
  22. date — the fruit
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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