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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: ruler · hand · ball · temple · cue · shower · content · chest

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. cue — a signal
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. hand — help
  5. cue — for pool
  6. ball — a dance
  7. chest — a box
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. shower — rain
  10. chest — of your body
  11. content — the amount
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. cue — a hint
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. hand — in cards
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. chest — of your body
  19. ball — a round shape
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — to wash
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. ball — a great time

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