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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: kid · chest · firm · content · mark · shower · club · spring

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. content — happy
  3. spring — a coil
  4. shower — to wash
  5. mark — a trace
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. firm — a company
  8. chest — a box
  9. content — the amount
  10. spring — the season
  11. club — a group
  12. kid — to tease
  13. kid — child
  14. chest — of your body
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. firm — steady
  17. club — for dancing
  18. firm — decided
  19. spring — of water
  20. chest — of your body
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. mark — a grade
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. club — for golf

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