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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Is it ________________ for us to be here?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. chest — of your body
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. chest — a box
  6. key — in music
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. key — the most important part
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. bark — to shout
  12. chest — of your body
  13. fork — in a road
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. shower — to wash
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. key — for a lock
  20. shower — rain
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. lie — to recline
  23. content — the amount
  24. safe — out of danger

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