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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: present · content · ground · fork · wind · deal

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. present — the time now
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. content — the amount
  6. wind — moving air
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. fork — in a road
  10. ground — crushed
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wind — moving air
  14. ground — the earth
  15. present — a gift
  16. ground — a position
  17. deal — to handle
  18. present — there

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