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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. content — the amount
  5. stock — goods
  6. bank — for money
  7. court — of a king
  8. degree — an amount
  9. shower — rain
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. shower — to wash
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. court — of law
  14. stock — shares
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. degree — from a university
  17. content — happy
  18. bank — of a river
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. bank — for money
  23. court — for sport
  24. degree — temperature

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