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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. wind — moving air
  3. shower — rain
  4. content — happy
  5. hand — help
  6. wind — moving air
  7. rash — a series
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. bank — of a river
  11. hand — in cards
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. date — the fruit
  14. bank — for money
  15. rash — hasty
  16. content — the amount
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. bank — for money
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. shower — to wash
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. dip — to sink

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