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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. shower — rain
  3. game — wild animals
  4. band — a music group
  5. present — there
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. rush — hurry
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. present — the time now
  17. band — a ring
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. content — the amount
  21. present — a gift
  22. game — a match
  23. shower — to wash
  24. coach — a trainer

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