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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. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. shower — rain
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. race — humankind
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. shower — to wash
  7. race — a contest
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. content — the amount
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. bowl — a dish
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. kick — in football
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. mine — for digging
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. plane — a tool
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. race — the arms race

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