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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: sharp · stick · shower · temple · ball · cue · content · clip

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. clip — to cut
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. cue — for pool
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. shower — rain
  8. sharp — clever
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. cue — a signal
  11. ball — a dance
  12. content — the amount
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. ball — a great time
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. shower — to wash
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — for paper
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. cue — a hint
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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