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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. land — a country
  6. season — in sport
  7. land — to come down
  8. season — of the year
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. content — happy
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. land — ground
  13. charge — a price
  14. charge — in control
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. content — the amount

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