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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: court · perch · chest · bat · patient · game · shower · leaves

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. game — wild animals
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. chest — a box
  12. court — of a king
  13. court — of law
  14. shower — rain
  15. perch — the fish
  16. chest — of your body
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. court — for sport
  19. shower — to wash
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. game — a match
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bat — the animal

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