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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The ball is in your ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. court — of a king
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. root — the cause
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. tube — the underground
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. wind — moving air
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. rush — hurry
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. court — for sport
  17. court — of law
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. fork — in a road
  20. root — of a plant
  21. root — of a word
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. wind — moving air
  24. tube — a container

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