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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. shower — to wash
  4. field — for sport
  5. field — a subject
  6. cap — a hat
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. cap — a lid
  9. content — happy
  10. fork — in a road
  11. shower — rain
  12. clip — to cut
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. content — the amount
  17. cap — of ice
  18. clip — for paper
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. clip — a video
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. field — farmland
  24. bark — to shout

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