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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: lash · court · pop · wound · present · shower · ball · kick

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. pop — to visit
  4. present — a gift
  5. wound — an injury
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. court — of law
  9. court — of a king
  10. kick — in football
  11. ball — a dance
  12. shower — rain
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. pop — soda
  16. present — there
  17. wound — an injury
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. ball — a great time
  20. pop — music
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. present — the time now
  23. ball — a round shape
  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