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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 · wind · face · content · bank · mine · sharp · stick

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. face — to point toward
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. shower — rain
  6. wind — moving air
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. face — to confront
  9. sharp — clever
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. bank — for money
  12. content — happy
  13. shower — to wash
  14. bank — of a river
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. bank — for money
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. face — part of the head
  21. wind — moving air
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. content — the amount

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