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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: shower · bowl · hand · court · clip · kick · mouse · root

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. court — for sport
  4. bowl — to roll
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. root — of a plant
  7. shower — rain
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. hand — in cards
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. clip — for paper
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. court — of a king
  16. kick — in football
  17. root — of a word
  18. clip — a video
  19. court — of law
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. root — the cause
  22. hand — help
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. clip — to cut

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