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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: rush · content · staff · shower · sharp · cap · field · kid

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. field — farmland
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. staff — a stick
  6. field — for sport
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. kid — to tease
  9. content — happy
  10. content — the amount
  11. rush — hurry
  12. staff — employees
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cap — a hat
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. cap — a lid
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. shower — rain
  20. staff — employees
  21. sharp — clever
  22. field — a subject
  23. shower — to wash
  24. rush — a thrill

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