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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. net — for catching
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. net — in sport
  7. staff — a stick
  8. roll — a cake
  9. staff — employees
  10. rash — a series
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. game — wild animals
  13. roll — a list
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. rash — hasty
  16. staff — employees
  17. content — happy
  18. shower — to wash
  19. net — after costs
  20. game — a match
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. shower — rain

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