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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: bat · court · wind · content · deal · fork · charge · last

  1. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. last — final
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. charge — electricity
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. last — to go on
  10. wind — moving air
  11. charge — in control
  12. content — the amount
  13. last — finally
  14. court — of law
  15. bat — the animal
  16. content — happy
  17. fork — in a road
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. charge — a price
  21. court — of a king
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. court — for 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