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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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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: mate · content · shower · club · stick · game · march · bay

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. club — for golf
  3. mate — a partner
  4. club — a group
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. shower — to wash
  9. mate — to breed
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. content — happy
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. club — for dancing
  15. march — music
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. content — the amount
  19. mate — a friend
  20. game — a match
  21. game — wild animals
  22. march — the month
  23. march — the month
  24. shower — rain

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