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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: shower · track · rash · club · spring · safe · tube · content

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. club — for dancing
  4. tube — a container
  5. spring — a coil
  6. rash — hasty
  7. club — for golf
  8. content — the amount
  9. tube — the underground
  10. rash — a series
  11. club — a group
  12. track — a path
  13. spring — of water
  14. shower — rain
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. shower — to wash
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. track — to keep track
  23. track — a song
  24. spring — the season

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