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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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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: fork · foot · rock · drill · cell · content · roll · bat

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. cell — in biology
  3. rock — music
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. content — happy
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. rock — a stone
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. drill — a practice
  11. drill — the tool
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. fork — in a road
  15. drill — army training
  16. roll — a list
  17. foot — a measure
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. content — the amount
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. bat — the 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