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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 120 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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. chest — of your body
  3. track — a song
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. content — the amount
  6. cue — a hint
  7. fork — in a road
  8. cue — for pool
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. chest — of your body
  11. track — to keep track
  12. spell — a short time
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. shower — to wash
  15. spell — letters
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. shower — rain
  18. chest — a box
  19. content — happy
  20. cue — a signal
  21. track — a path
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. spell — magic
  24. straw — dry grass

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