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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. can — a tin
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. content — the amount
  5. club — for golf
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. shower — to wash
  8. club — a group
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. swing — music
  11. can — to be able to
  12. craft — a skill
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. shower — rain
  15. swing — in golf
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. chair — a leader
  19. swing — to play on
  20. can — a tin
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. club — for dancing
  23. craft — boats
  24. band — a music group

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