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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. shower — rain
  3. content — the amount
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. content — happy
  8. spell — letters
  9. land — to come down
  10. stand — to bear
  11. spell — a short time
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. land — ground
  15. bear — the animal
  16. shower — to wash
  17. kick — in football
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. spell — magic
  20. land — a country
  21. date — the fruit
  22. bear — the animal
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. date — on the calendar

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