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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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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: march · court · content · scale · wound · mug · cold · shower

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. shower — rain
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. court — for sport
  6. court — of law
  7. court — of a king
  8. scale — in music
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. cold — not warm
  13. march — music
  14. scale — size or range
  15. mug — to rob
  16. mug — a face
  17. shower — to wash
  18. march — the month
  19. march — the month
  20. content — the amount
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cold — an illness
  23. mug — a cup
  24. content — happy

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