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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 120 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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. wind — moving air
  3. chest — of your body
  4. tear — from crying
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. tear — to rip
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. wind — moving air
  11. content — happy
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. fork — in a road
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. tear — from crying
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. content — the amount
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. chest — a box
  20. kick — in football
  21. vault — a safe
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. chest — of your body
  24. field — farmland

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