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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: row · content · bowl · saw · mine · fork · bear · ground

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. content — happy
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. ground — the earth
  9. bowl — a dish
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. ground — crushed
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. fork — in a road
  15. bowl — a football final
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. row — to paddle
  18. saw — the tool
  19. ground — a position
  20. row — a line
  21. bear — the animal
  22. content — the amount
  23. mine — for digging
  24. saw — the tool

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