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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. content — happy
  5. ground — a position
  6. band — a music group
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. cell — a phone
  9. root — the cause
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. spring — of water
  13. cell — in biology
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. root — of a word
  18. ground — the earth
  19. band — a ring
  20. root — of a plant
  21. spring — the season
  22. spring — a coil
  23. ground — crushed
  24. fork — in a road

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