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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. content — the amount
  3. jam — to spread on bread
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. rock — a stone
  6. shower — to wash
  7. rule — a law
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. rock — music
  11. rule — government
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. bat — the animal
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. clip — to cut
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. content — happy
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — for paper

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