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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. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. key — the most important part
  3. fork — in a road
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. perch — the fish
  6. content — the amount
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. key — for a lock
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. bark — to shout
  14. chair — a leader
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. hand — help
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. hand — in cards
  23. key — in music
  24. hand — part of the body

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