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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: prune · shower · fall · staff · plane · file · wave · court

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. staff — employees
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. shower — to wash
  6. prune — to trim
  7. shower — rain
  8. file — a tool
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fall — to drop
  14. prune — to trim
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. court — of law
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. staff — a stick
  19. file — a line of people
  20. fall — the season
  21. staff — employees
  22. file — a document
  23. court — for sport
  24. plane — a tool

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