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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 116 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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. scale — size or range
  4. ball — a dance
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. shower — to wash
  8. sharp — clever
  9. row — to paddle
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. stand — to bear
  12. scale — in music
  13. row — a line
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — ground
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. shower — rain
  20. content — happy
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. ball — a great time
  24. land — a country

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