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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: court · shower · object · stand · coach · clip · straw · pit

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. object — to protest
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. clip — a video
  5. shower — to wash
  6. court — of law
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. object — an aim
  9. pit — in a race
  10. pit — a hole
  11. shower — rain
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. court — of a king
  15. stand — to bear
  16. clip — to cut
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. object — a thing
  19. clip — for paper
  20. court — for sport
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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