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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: shower · straw · key · foot · court · row · swing · fall

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fall — to drop
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. court — of a king
  7. row — a line
  8. swing — music
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. foot — a measure
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. court — of law
  13. swing — in golf
  14. court — for sport
  15. key — for a lock
  16. key — the most important part
  17. fall — the season
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. swing — to play on
  20. row — to paddle
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. shower — rain
  23. key — in music
  24. row — a quarrel

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