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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. staff — employees
  3. mine — for digging
  4. hand — in cards
  5. content — happy
  6. mate — a friend
  7. staff — employees
  8. shower — to wash
  9. game — wild animals
  10. shower — rain
  11. content — the amount
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. mate — a partner
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. mate — to breed
  17. hand — help
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. game — a match
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. staff — a stick
  23. deal — to handle
  24. deal — a big deal

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