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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. cold — an illness
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. band — a ring
  6. scale — size or range
  7. can — to be able to
  8. can — a tin
  9. content — the amount
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. content — happy
  13. cold — not warm
  14. shower — to wash
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. band — a music group
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. scale — in music
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. stock — shares
  22. stock — goods
  23. shower — rain
  24. pass — a permit

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