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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: content · row · march · safe · hand · shower · game · cue

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. content — happy
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. cue — a signal
  5. march — the month
  6. cue — a hint
  7. hand — in cards
  8. game — a match
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. march — music
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. row — to paddle
  13. shower — to wash
  14. shower — rain
  15. row — a line
  16. game — wild animals
  17. hand — help
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. march — the month
  23. cue — for pool
  24. content — the amount

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