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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: content · chest · pop · coach · fork · bark · pitcher · rule

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. content — the amount
  3. rule — a law
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. fork — in a road
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. pop — music
  8. content — happy
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. chest — a box
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. rule — government
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. pop — soda
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. bark — to shout
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. pop — to visit
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. chest — of your body
  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