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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 120 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: court · last · content · fork · coach · spell · bark · stick

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. last — finally
  4. court — for sport
  5. court — of a king
  6. bark — to shout
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. last — final
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. fork — in a road
  11. spell — a short time
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. content — happy
  14. spell — letters
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. court — of law
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. last — to go on
  22. content — the amount
  23. spell — magic
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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