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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: stem · racket · content · mine · cold · coach · kick · fork

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. stem — to come from
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. cold — not warm
  7. fork — in a road
  8. kick — in football
  9. content — happy
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. mine — for digging
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. coach — a trainer

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