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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. tube — a container
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. ground — the earth
  6. prune — to trim
  7. fork — in a road
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. race — the arms race
  14. race — humankind
  15. ground — crushed
  16. ground — a position
  17. race — a contest
  18. prune — to trim
  19. content — the amount
  20. cold — an illness
  21. tube — the underground
  22. content — happy
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. chest — of your 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