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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · game · arm · row · shower · chest · capital · roll

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. shower — rain
  3. row — a line
  4. row — to paddle
  5. chest — of your body
  6. game — a match
  7. content — happy
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. content — the amount
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. roll — a cake
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. chest — a box
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. roll — a list
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. shower — to wash
  21. capital — a city
  22. chest — of your body
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — money

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