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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. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. content — happy
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. cold — not warm
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. branch — a division
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. spell — letters
  11. charge — electricity
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. bulb — for light
  14. cold — an illness
  15. spell — magic
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. bulb — for light
  19. spell — a short time
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. charge — in control
  23. charge — a price
  24. coach — a trainer

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