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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: nail · chest · wind · firm · court · game · shower · rash

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. chest — of your body
  3. rash — a series
  4. game — wild animals
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. shower — rain
  7. shower — to wash
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. firm — a company
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. firm — steady
  13. chest — a box
  14. wind — moving air
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. court — of law
  19. chest — of your body
  20. court — for sport
  21. rash — hasty
  22. firm — decided
  23. court — of a king
  24. game — a match

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