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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: mug · last · bay · pound · court · land · saw · shower

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. Where did you ________________ them?
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  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. court — of law
  3. mug — a face
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. pound — a weight
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. mug — to rob
  9. land — to come down
  10. last — to go on
  11. land — ground
  12. last — final
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. last — finally
  15. land — a country
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. court — of a king
  18. mug — a cup
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — to wash
  23. pound — to hit hard
  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