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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. content — happy
  3. charge — a price
  4. field — farmland
  5. field — for sport
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. shower — to wash
  8. pop — music
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. pop — soda
  11. content — the amount
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. kick — in football
  14. field — a subject
  15. charge — in control
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. charge — electricity
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. saw — the tool
  22. shower — rain
  23. saw — the tool
  24. pop — to visit

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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