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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: spring · cabinet · content · field · row · chip · shower · nail

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  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. row — to paddle
  2. spring — of water
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. field — farmland
  6. shower — to wash
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. chip — for betting
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. spring — the season
  11. spring — a coil
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. content — happy
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. content — the amount
  18. row — a line
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. chip — to eat
  21. field — for sport
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. field — a subject
  24. shower — rain

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