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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — for digging
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. content — happy
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. root — of a word
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. wound — an injury
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. bark — to shout
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. root — the cause
  15. wound — an injury
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. root — of a plant
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. fork — in a road
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. content — the amount
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. sharp — clever

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