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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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 · fork · root · charge · row · content · hand

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. charge — a price
  6. charge — electricity
  7. content — happy
  8. charge — in control
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. hand — in cards
  11. hand — help
  12. game — a match
  13. root — the cause
  14. root — of a plant
  15. root — of a word
  16. game — wild animals
  17. row — to paddle
  18. fork — in a road
  19. row — a line
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. shower — to wash
  22. content — the amount
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. shower — rain

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