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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: club · tear · court · mug · fan · staff · shower · net

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  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 — of a king
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. mug — a cup
  4. shower — to wash
  5. tear — from crying
  6. staff — employees
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. tear — to rip
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. mug — to rob
  11. net — for catching
  12. shower — rain
  13. club — for golf
  14. court — for sport
  15. tear — from crying
  16. mug — a face
  17. staff — a stick
  18. club — a group
  19. staff — employees
  20. net — after costs
  21. court — of law
  22. club — for dancing
  23. net — in sport
  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