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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. net — for catching
  4. tear — from crying
  5. net — after costs
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. content — happy
  8. tear — to rip
  9. scale — size or range
  10. tear — from crying
  11. net — in sport
  12. scale — in music
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. fork — in a road
  16. vault — a safe
  17. content — the amount
  18. content — videos and posts

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