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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: root · hide · content · chair · kick · fork · row · rock

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. root — the cause
  7. kick — in football
  8. content — the amount
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. fork — in a road
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. chair — a leader
  14. row — a line
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. rock — a stone
  17. rock — music
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. root — of a plant
  21. root — of a word
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. row — to paddle

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