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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 120 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: straw · pound · plane · content · bark · kid · fork · object

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. pound — a weight
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. kid — to tease
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. content — the amount
  11. plane — a tool
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. content — happy
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. fork — in a road
  16. object — to protest
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. object — an aim
  23. object — a thing
  24. bark — of a tree

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