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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. content — the amount
  5. mate — to breed
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. spring — a coil
  8. mate — a friend
  9. charge — a price
  10. charge — electricity
  11. present — a gift
  12. present — there
  13. game — wild animals
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. branch — a division
  16. mate — a partner
  17. charge — in control
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. content — happy
  21. game — a match
  22. present — the time now
  23. spring — of water
  24. spring — the season

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