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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: shower · cell · bore · court · clip · roll · wave · pitch

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bore — to tire
  3. pitch — completely
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. bore — to drill
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. court — of a king
  9. roll — a cake
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. cell — in biology
  12. clip — a video
  13. court — of law
  14. clip — to cut
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. cell — a phone
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. roll — a list
  20. shower — rain
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. shower — to wash
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. court — for sport

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