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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: bat · court · mark · shower · suit · wax · fine · clip

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. When will it ________________ you to start?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. court — for sport
  3. bat — the animal
  4. suit — clothes
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. suit — in cards
  8. mark — a trace
  9. clip — a video
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. court — of law
  13. court — of a king
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. fine — all right
  16. suit — to fit
  17. clip — to cut
  18. fine — high quality
  19. wax — to grow
  20. clip — for paper
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. shower — to wash
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. mark — a grade

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