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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 came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — in a road
  2. content — happy
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — an illness
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. band — a ring
  9. mine — for digging
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. bore — to drill
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. cold — not warm
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. content — the amount
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. bore — to tire
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. band — a music group
  24. coach — a trainer

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