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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. stem — to come from
  4. bore — to drill
  5. net — in sport
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. net — for catching
  8. wind — moving air
  9. file — a line of people
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. degree — temperature
  13. net — after costs
  14. content — happy
  15. bore — to tire
  16. file — a tool
  17. degree — from a university
  18. content — the amount
  19. file — a document
  20. fork — in a road
  21. degree — an amount
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. wind — moving air
  24. stem — a stem cell

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