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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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. shower — to wash
  3. scale — size or range
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. swing — to play on
  8. pass — a permit
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. bark — to shout
  11. content — happy
  12. scale — in music
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. shower — rain
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. fine — all right
  18. swing — in golf
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — in cards
  22. fine — high quality
  23. content — the amount
  24. swing — music

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