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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. chest — a box
  4. march — the month
  5. chest — of your body
  6. content — the amount
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. shower — to wash
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. pop — soda
  12. mine — for digging
  13. tear — from crying
  14. pop — music
  15. tear — to rip
  16. march — music
  17. pop — to visit
  18. content — happy
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. march — the month
  21. chest — of your body
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. tear — from crying
  24. pitcher — a jug

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