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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: cap · fork · arm · content · field · bark · season · charge

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. charge — a price
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. field — for sport
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. field — farmland
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. season — in sport
  11. charge — in control
  12. charge — electricity
  13. season — of the year
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. cap — of ice
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. cap — a lid
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. fork — in a road
  20. cap — a hat
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. field — a subject
  23. content — the amount
  24. bark — to shout

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