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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: race · spell · kid · lie · fork · cap · content · root

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. root — of a plant
  4. spell — magic
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. root — the cause
  7. race — a contest
  8. fork — in a road
  9. kid — child
  10. race — humankind
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. spell — letters
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. content — the amount
  15. cap — a lid
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. spell — a short time
  19. root — of a word
  20. cap — of ice
  21. kid — to tease
  22. cap — a hat
  23. race — the arms race
  24. lie — to recline

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