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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. can — to be able to
  3. mine — for digging
  4. rash — a series
  5. shower — rain
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. squash — the sport
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. kick — in football
  10. content — happy
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. can — a tin
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. shower — to wash
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. cold — an illness
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. can — a tin
  19. content — the amount
  20. rash — hasty
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. squash — to crush

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