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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. wind — moving air
  3. pop — music
  4. content — happy
  5. pop — soda
  6. shower — to wash
  7. charge — electricity
  8. root — of a plant
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. wind — moving air
  13. charge — in control
  14. land — to come down
  15. pop — to visit
  16. root — of a word
  17. land — ground
  18. land — a country
  19. game — wild animals
  20. root — the cause
  21. shower — rain
  22. content — the amount
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. game — a match

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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