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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: hand · season · fan · content · roll · shower · current · clip

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  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. roll — a cake
  2. clip — to cut
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. content — happy
  5. content — the amount
  6. season — in sport
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. hand — help
  9. hand — in cards
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. shower — to wash
  13. current — of water
  14. roll — a list
  15. current — electric
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. season — of the year
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. clip — for paper
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. current — happening now
  23. clip — a video
  24. shower — rain

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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