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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. drill — army training
  3. chest — of your body
  4. shower — to wash
  5. drill — a practice
  6. current — of water
  7. land — to come down
  8. content — the amount
  9. content — happy
  10. drill — the tool
  11. cue — for pool
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. chest — a box
  14. current — happening now
  15. court — of law
  16. cue — a hint
  17. cue — a signal
  18. land — ground
  19. shower — rain
  20. court — of a king
  21. land — a country
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. current — electric
  24. court — for sport

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