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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: shower · mine · safe · content · bat · bark · saw · bowl

  1. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  19. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — to roll
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. bark — to shout
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. content — happy
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. mine — for digging
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. shower — rain
  13. content — the amount
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. saw — the tool
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. saw — the tool
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. safe — a strongbox
  20. shower — to wash
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. bat — the animal
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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