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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. fork — a garden tool
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. kid — to tease
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. craft — boats
  7. cold — an illness
  8. craft — a skill
  9. root — of a word
  10. root — the cause
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. scale — in music
  13. content — the amount
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. kid — child
  16. chip — for betting
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. scale — size or range
  19. chip — to eat
  20. fork — in a road
  21. content — happy
  22. craft — a handicraft
  23. cold — not warm
  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