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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. land — to come down
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. content — happy
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. content — the amount
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. land — ground
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. land — a country
  14. bark — to shout
  15. fork — in a road
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — an injury
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. snap — to click
  24. fork — a garden tool

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