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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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Word bank
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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: content · squash · kid · fork · last · calf · ground · hand

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. hand — in cards
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. ground — a position
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. fork — in a road
  9. content — the amount
  10. squash — the sport
  11. kid — to tease
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. ground — crushed
  14. last — to go on
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. kid — child
  18. last — finally
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. ground — the earth
  21. last — final
  22. content — happy
  23. squash — to crush
  24. calf — a young animal

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