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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 · mate · content · band · mine · spell · bound · fork

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. band — a ring
  4. content — the amount
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. cap — a lid
  7. spell — letters
  8. mate — a partner
  9. spell — magic
  10. band — a music group
  11. spell — a short time
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. bound — certain
  14. mate — a friend
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mine — for digging
  18. bound — obliged
  19. bound — tied together
  20. cap — of ice
  21. fork — in a road
  22. mate — to breed
  23. cap — a hat
  24. fork — a garden tool

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