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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 120 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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. content — the amount
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. chest — of your body
  7. last — final
  8. season — in sport
  9. chest — a box
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. board — a committee
  12. hand — in cards
  13. hand — help
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. board — to get on
  16. season — of the year
  17. band — a music group
  18. last — finally
  19. chest — of your body
  20. content — happy
  21. shower — rain
  22. band — a ring
  23. last — to go on
  24. shower — to wash

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