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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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. spell — magic
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. capital — a city
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. game — a match
  8. capital — money
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. content — the amount
  11. spell — a short time
  12. charge — electricity
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. spell — letters
  16. charge — in control
  17. cold — not warm
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. snap — to click
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. game — wild animals
  23. content — happy
  24. capital — a big letter

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