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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: court · shower · firm · season · tear · squash · bass · file

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. season — of the year
  3. court — for sport
  4. court — of law
  5. firm — a company
  6. bass — low music
  7. file — a tool
  8. squash — to crush
  9. firm — steady
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. season — in sport
  12. tear — from crying
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. firm — decided
  15. court — of a king
  16. file — a document
  17. shower — rain
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. shower — to wash
  20. file — a line of people
  21. squash — the sport
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. bass — the fish
  24. tear — from crying

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