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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. This piece is in a major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. court — for sport
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. key — the most important part
  7. firm — decided
  8. cold — an illness
  9. firm — steady
  10. content — the amount
  11. cold — not warm
  12. court — of law
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. court — of a king
  18. branch — a division
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. fork — in a road
  21. key — for a lock
  22. lie — to recline
  23. firm — a company
  24. key — in music

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