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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 120 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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. content — happy
  3. degree — an amount
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. fork — in a road
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. chip — for betting
  8. content — the amount
  9. root — the cause
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. shower — to wash
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. degree — temperature
  18. shower — rain
  19. degree — from a university
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. chip — to eat
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. root — of a plant

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