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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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. content — the amount
  5. content — happy
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. bear — the animal
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. shower — rain
  12. bear — the animal
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. wound — an injury
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. wound — an injury
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. lie — to recline
  22. shower — to wash
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. wind — to turn a key

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