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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've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. cell — a phone
  3. content — happy
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. spell — letters
  6. spell — magic
  7. chair — a leader
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. fork — in a road
  11. court — for sport
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. court — of law
  15. court — of a king
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. content — the amount
  18. bore — to drill
  19. bore — to tire
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. cell — in biology

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