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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 120 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: content · fork · shower · net · drill · ball · chest · nail

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. drill — the tool
  3. content — the amount
  4. chest — of your body
  5. drill — a practice
  6. ball — a dance
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. fork — in a road
  11. content — happy
  12. net — for catching
  13. chest — of your body
  14. drill — army training
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. net — after costs
  17. shower — to wash
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. net — in sport
  21. chest — a box
  22. shower — rain
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. ball — a round shape

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