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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: bear · content · rush · fall · fork · season · bat · wind

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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. bear — to put up with
  4. fall — the season
  5. wind — moving air
  6. rush — hurry
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. content — the amount
  9. fork — in a road
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. content — happy
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. bear — the animal
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. fall — to drop
  19. season — in sport
  20. season — of the year
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bear — the animal
  24. wind — moving air

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