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

Word bank: fork · kick · ruler · bat · content · wind

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. wind — moving air
  4. content — happy
  5. wind — moving air
  6. fork — in a road
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. content — the amount
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. ruler — a monarch
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. bat — for baseball

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