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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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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: perch · kick · fine · nail · wound · present · content · shower

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. wound — an injury
  3. fine — high quality
  4. present — a gift
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. perch — the fish
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. kick — in football
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. present — there
  14. content — the amount
  15. shower — rain
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. present — the time now
  20. shower — to wash
  21. fine — all right
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. wound — an injury

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