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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. root — the cause
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. scale — in music
  6. pit — in a race
  7. root — of a plant
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. clip — to cut
  10. root — of a word
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. pit — a hole
  13. season — in sport
  14. court — of a king
  15. content — happy
  16. clip — a video
  17. season — of the year
  18. scale — size or range
  19. court — of law
  20. clip — for paper
  21. fork — in a road
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. content — the amount
  24. court — for sport

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