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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 116 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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. root — of a word
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bat — the animal
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. fork — in a road
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. content — happy
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. net — in sport
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. content — the amount
  17. bark — to shout
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. net — for catching
  21. root — of a plant
  22. lie — to recline
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. root — the cause

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