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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. court — for sport
  4. content — happy
  5. root — of a plant
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. court — of law
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. root — the cause
  10. fork — in a road
  11. tear — from crying
  12. spring — a coil
  13. sharp — clever
  14. ground — crushed
  15. spring — the season
  16. spring — of water
  17. ground — a position
  18. court — of a king
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. tear — to rip
  21. root — of a word
  22. ground — the earth
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. content — the amount

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