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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. fall — to drop
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. fall — the season
  5. present — there
  6. shower — to wash
  7. shower — rain
  8. club — for golf
  9. present — a gift
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. club — for dancing
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. present — the time now
  17. fall — to drop
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. chip — for betting
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. chip — to eat
  22. club — a group
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. content — the amount

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