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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. content — the amount
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. fork — in a road
  8. branch — a division
  9. row — to paddle
  10. shower — to wash
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. shower — rain
  14. spell — a short time
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. spell — magic
  18. wound — an injury
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. content — happy
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. row — a line
  23. wound — an injury
  24. spell — letters

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