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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. fork — in a road
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. land — a country
  10. land — ground
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. branch — a division
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. wake — a trail
  18. content — the amount
  19. land — to come down
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. bark — to shout
  24. coach — a trainer

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