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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: chest · content · land · kick · pit · fine · fork · tube

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  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. kick — a thrill
  2. pit — a hole
  3. tube — the underground
  4. fine — all right
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. tube — a container
  8. chest — a box
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. content — the amount
  12. land — ground
  13. pit — in a race
  14. content — happy
  15. land — to come down
  16. kick — in football
  17. chest — of your body
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. fine — high quality
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. chest — of your body
  22. land — a country
  23. fork — a garden tool
  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