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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: kid · kick · fork · press · row · content

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. 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. press — newspapers
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. kid — child
  5. row — a line
  6. press — a publisher
  7. content — happy
  8. press — to push
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. kick — in football
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. row — to paddle
  16. kid — to tease
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. 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