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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. When will it ________________ you to start?
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. suit — in cards
  3. chest — of your body
  4. net — for catching
  5. net — after costs
  6. spell — letters
  7. spell — a short time
  8. lean — to bend
  9. chest — a box
  10. content — happy
  11. tear — from crying
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. tear — from crying
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. content — the amount
  17. lean — thin
  18. chest — of your body
  19. fork — in a road
  20. suit — to fit
  21. spell — magic
  22. net — in sport
  23. tear — to rip
  24. suit — clothes

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