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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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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: spring · deal · fork · file · content · rash · racket · net

  1. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. spring — the season
  3. file — a line of people
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. rash — a series
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. net — for catching
  8. net — after costs
  9. spring — of water
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. content — happy
  12. rash — hasty
  13. deal — to handle
  14. file — a tool
  15. content — the amount
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. fork — in a road
  20. file — a document
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. spring — a coil
  24. net — in sport

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