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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. bark — to shout
  3. rest — what's left
  4. hand — in cards
  5. cell — in biology
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. hand — help
  8. fork — in a road
  9. content — the amount
  10. wind — moving air
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cell — a phone
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. rest — a break
  17. content — happy
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. rest — what's left
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. bark — of a tree

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