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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 116 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 took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. clip — for paper
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. content — happy
  8. root — of a word
  9. root — of a plant
  10. clip — a video
  11. fine — high quality
  12. fine — all right
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. content — the amount
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. bark — to shout
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. shower — to wash
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. root — the cause
  24. content — videos and posts

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