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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 120 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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. content — the amount
  3. bulb — for light
  4. charge — electricity
  5. land — ground
  6. land — to come down
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. press — newspapers
  9. content — happy
  10. press — to push
  11. perch — the fish
  12. charge — in control
  13. clip — a video
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. press — a publisher
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. clip — for paper
  20. charge — a price
  21. land — a country
  22. kid — child
  23. bulb — for light
  24. clip — to cut

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