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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. content — the amount
  3. net — in sport
  4. content — happy
  5. drill — army training
  6. wound — an injury
  7. file — a line of people
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wound — an injury
  10. drill — a practice
  11. craft — a skill
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. net — for catching
  14. net — after costs
  15. craft — boats
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. file — a tool
  18. row — to paddle
  19. file — a document
  20. row — a line
  21. shower — to wash
  22. drill — the tool
  23. shower — rain
  24. content — videos and posts

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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