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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: game · bore · mark · shower · roll · rest · perch · content

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. rest — what's left
  3. content — the amount
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. shower — to wash
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. bore — to tire
  8. game — a match
  9. rest — what's left
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. roll — a list
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. game — wild animals
  14. rest — a break
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. perch — the fish
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. content — happy
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. bore — to drill
  22. shower — rain
  23. mark — a trace
  24. mark — a grade

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