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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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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: court · row · cap · bowl · shower · straw · face · arm

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. cap — a lid
  3. court — for sport
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. cap — of ice
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — to wash
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. court — of law
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. court — of a king
  15. face — to confront
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. face — to point toward
  19. cap — a hat
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. face — part of the head
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — to paddle
  24. row — a line

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