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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. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. chest — of your body
  4. root — of a word
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. content — the amount
  7. ball — a dance
  8. land — ground
  9. land — to come down
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. root — of a plant
  12. land — a country
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. chest — a box
  15. content — happy
  16. root — the cause
  17. bark — to shout
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. chest — of your body
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — moving air
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. ball — a great time

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