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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 120 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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. hand — in cards
  4. degree — from a university
  5. wind — moving air
  6. perch — the fish
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. shower — rain
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. shower — to wash
  11. charge — in control
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. degree — an amount
  14. charge — electricity
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. content — happy
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. charge — a price
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. degree — temperature
  22. content — the amount
  23. wind — moving air
  24. hand — help

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