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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: wake · content · mug · spring · wound · squash · shower · court

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  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. wake — before a funeral
  2. content — happy
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. content — the amount
  5. spring — of water
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. court — for sport
  9. squash — to crush
  10. spring — a coil
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. spring — the season
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wake — a trail
  15. court — of a king
  16. squash — the sport
  17. mug — a cup
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — rain
  20. wound — an injury
  21. mug — to rob
  22. mug — a face
  23. court — of law
  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