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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. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. spring — of water
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. face — to confront
  6. content — happy
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. sharp — clever
  9. face — to point toward
  10. fork — in a road
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. spring — a coil
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. content — the amount
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. spring — the season
  22. face — part of the head
  23. pound — a weight
  24. calf — a young animal

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