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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. shower — rain
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. mate — a partner
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. drill — the tool
  8. roll — a cake
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. mate — a friend
  12. drill — a practice
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. rush — hurry
  15. roll — a list
  16. pound — a weight
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. mate — to breed
  20. drill — army training
  21. content — the amount
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. shower — to wash
  24. branch — a division

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