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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 116 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: march · shower · fork · race · content · calf · root · field

  1. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. content — the amount
  3. field — farmland
  4. march — music
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. root — of a plant
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. fork — in a road
  9. shower — to wash
  10. race — the arms race
  11. field — a subject
  12. race — a contest
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. content — happy
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. field — for sport
  17. shower — rain
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. march — the month
  21. root — the cause
  22. march — the month
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. race — humankind

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