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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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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. date — the fruit
  3. sharp — clever
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. shower — to wash
  7. content — happy
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. fork — in a road
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. cell — a phone
  14. shower — rain
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. cell — in biology
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. dip — to sink
  23. content — the amount
  24. stand — to bear

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