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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: content · march · charge · lash · court · spell · fork · cold

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. court — for sport
  3. fork — in a road
  4. court — of law
  5. march — music
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. court — of a king
  8. cold — an illness
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. charge — electricity
  13. march — the month
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. charge — a price
  16. content — the amount
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. charge — in control
  19. content — happy
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. spell — magic
  22. march — the month
  23. spell — a short time
  24. spell — letters

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