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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 116 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. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — in control
  2. band — a music group
  3. content — happy
  4. wind — moving air
  5. swing — to play on
  6. stand — to bear
  7. pitch — completely
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. charge — a price
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. sharp — clever
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. content — the amount
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. charge — electricity
  18. band — a ring
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. swing — in golf
  23. swing — music
  24. sharp — with an edge

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