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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.

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: stand · clip · shower · mine · content · racket · arm · game

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. shower — rain
  4. clip — a video
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. shower — to wash
  8. clip — for paper
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. game — wild animals
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. content — the amount
  16. stand — to bear
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. content — happy
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. clip — to cut
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. game — a match
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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