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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: shower · game · cell · content · wake · arm · wave · rule

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. cell — a phone
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. content — happy
  6. cell — in biology
  7. shower — to wash
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. wake — a trail
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. rule — a law
  12. shower — rain
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. game — a match
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. game — wild animals
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. content — the amount
  24. rule — government

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