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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: spell · fork · band · season · club · deal · content · cell

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. content — happy
  3. club — for dancing
  4. cell — a phone
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. cell — in biology
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. spell — a short time
  10. spell — magic
  11. club — for golf
  12. club — a group
  13. fork — in a road
  14. season — of the year
  15. season — in sport
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. deal — to handle
  18. content — the amount
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. band — a ring
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. band — a music group
  24. fork — to eat with

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