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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. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. bound — certain
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. row — a line
  6. shower — to wash
  7. chip — to eat
  8. chip — for betting
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. content — the amount
  12. rash — hasty
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. deal — to handle
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. row — to paddle
  17. content — happy
  18. bound — tied together
  19. bound — obliged
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. sharp — clever
  23. shower — rain
  24. rash — a series

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