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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: content · straw · cold · fork · shower · mouse · bore · tube

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. content — happy
  7. tube — the underground
  8. fork — in a road
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bore — to tire
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. bore — to drill
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. content — the amount
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. shower — rain
  21. tube — a container
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. cold — not warm
  24. shower — to wash

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