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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: fall · race · clip · content · stem · fork · shower · kid

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. fall — to drop
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. kid — to tease
  5. fork — in a road
  6. content — happy
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. content — the amount
  9. fall — to drop
  10. race — humankind
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. fall — the season
  14. stem — to come from
  15. race — a contest
  16. shower — rain
  17. kid — child
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. clip — for paper
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. clip — a video
  22. shower — to wash
  23. race — the arms race
  24. clip — to cut

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