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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. rash — a series
  3. kid — to tease
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. game — wild animals
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. content — happy
  11. game — a match
  12. kid — child
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. shower — to wash
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. content — the amount
  17. stem — to come from
  18. rash — hasty

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