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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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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 · nail · court · content · track · lean · coach · pound

  1. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a song
  2. court — for sport
  3. pound — a weight
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. content — happy
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. shower — rain
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. track — to keep track
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. court — of a king
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — the amount
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. court — of law
  17. lean — thin
  18. shower — to wash
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. lean — to bend
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. track — a path

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