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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. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a signal
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. drill — the tool
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. scale — in music
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. cue — a hint
  12. bark — to shout
  13. content — the amount
  14. content — happy
  15. fork — in a road
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bore — to drill
  18. drill — a practice
  19. scale — size or range
  20. rash — hasty
  21. cue — for pool
  22. drill — army training
  23. rash — a series
  24. bore — to tire

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