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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 120 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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. mark — a grade
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. bank — of a river
  6. mark — a trace
  7. stand — to bear
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. hand — in cards
  12. content — happy
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. bank — for money
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — for sport
  17. content — the amount
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. field — farmland
  20. row — a line
  21. bank — for money
  22. shower — rain
  23. hand — help
  24. row — to paddle

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