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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 116 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. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — of a river
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. shower — rain
  5. file — a document
  6. file — a line of people
  7. shower — to wash
  8. bank — for money
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. content — happy
  11. sharp — clever
  12. land — a country
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. pound — a weight
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cell — a phone
  17. land — ground
  18. file — a tool
  19. bank — for money
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. land — to come down
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. cell — in biology
  24. content — the amount

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