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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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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. spell — letters
  3. file — a tool
  4. staff — a stick
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. content — the amount
  7. spell — magic
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. charge — a price
  10. staff — employees
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. jam — in traffic
  14. season — of the year
  15. season — in sport
  16. staff — employees
  17. content — happy
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. file — a document
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. charge — in control
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. file — a line of people
  24. spell — a short time

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