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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: shower · cabinet · bay · content · snap · game · drill · present

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. content — happy
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. drill — a practice
  5. shower — rain
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. present — a gift
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. present — there
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. shower — to wash
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. snap — to click
  17. drill — the tool
  18. drill — army training
  19. game — wild animals
  20. present — the time now
  21. content — the amount
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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