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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.

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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: sharp · cue · last · squash · wound · shower · content · branch

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  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. wound — an injury
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. cue — a signal
  4. sharp — clever
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. content — the amount
  7. last — final
  8. last — to go on
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. cue — for pool
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. squash — to crush
  13. shower — to wash
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. cue — a hint
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. last — finally
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. content — happy
  22. squash — the sport
  23. branch — a division
  24. wound — an injury

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