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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: content · staff · spring · shower · court · coach · drill · mate

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. mate — a partner
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. spring — of water
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. mate — to breed
  7. content — the amount
  8. shower — to wash
  9. mate — a friend
  10. staff — a stick
  11. court — of a king
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. staff — employees
  15. staff — employees
  16. spring — the season
  17. content — happy
  18. drill — a practice
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. drill — army training
  21. court — for sport
  22. spring — a coil
  23. drill — the tool
  24. court — of law

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