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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: mine · roll · root · fork · bowl · content · wound · wind

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. wound — an injury
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. roll — a list
  5. roll — a cake
  6. wind — moving air
  7. root — the cause
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. content — happy
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. mine — for digging
  14. root — of a word
  15. root — of a plant
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. content — the amount
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wind — moving air
  20. fork — in a road
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. content — videos and posts

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