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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. key — the most important part
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. content — the amount
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — moving air
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wound — an injury
  11. clip — a video
  12. content — happy
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. key — in music
  15. charge — in control
  16. chair — a leader
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. clip — to cut
  19. key — for a lock
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. foot — a measure
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. clip — for paper
  24. charge — a price

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