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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — ground
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. shower — rain
  8. band — a ring
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. band — a music group
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. game — wild animals
  15. game — a match
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. chip — for betting
  18. land — a country
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. content — happy
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. shower — to wash
  23. content — the amount
  24. chip — to eat

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