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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. rash — hasty
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. rash — a series
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. shower — rain
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. cap — a hat
  10. content — the amount
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. sharp — clever
  16. content — happy
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. cap — of ice
  21. pound — a weight
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. cap — a lid
  24. wave — of the sea

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