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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. kid — to tease
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. root — of a word
  6. cell — a phone
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. fork — in a road
  10. content — happy
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. branch — a division
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. kick — in football
  17. content — the amount
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. root — of a plant
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — child
  22. cell — in biology
  23. root — the cause
  24. kick — with a leg

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