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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 · mouse · rush · court · field · march · fall · mate

  1. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. mate — a partner
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. mate — to breed
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. court — for sport
  8. fall — the season
  9. field — farmland
  10. field — for sport
  11. march — the month
  12. court — of a king
  13. rush — hurry
  14. field — a subject
  15. shower — rain
  16. mate — a friend
  17. march — music
  18. fall — to drop
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. shower — to wash
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. fall — to drop
  23. court — of law
  24. march — the month

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