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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 · bore · fork · kid · capital · cue · charge · content

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. bore — to drill
  4. cue — a signal
  5. content — happy
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. charge — in control
  10. charge — a price
  11. capital — a city
  12. cue — a hint
  13. fall — the season
  14. cue — for pool
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. fall — to drop
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. kid — child
  19. charge — electricity
  20. fork — in a road
  21. kid — to tease
  22. capital — money
  23. content — the amount
  24. bore — to tire

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