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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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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: arm · pitcher · board · band · shower · roll · court · bear

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. shower — rain
  3. bear — the animal
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. court — for sport
  6. board — to get on
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. court — of a king
  13. shower — to wash
  14. band — a music group
  15. court — of law
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. roll — a cake
  18. board — a committee
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. roll — a list
  24. pitcher — a jug

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