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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. chair — a leader
  3. charge — electricity
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. content — the amount
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. fall — to drop
  8. charge — in control
  9. spring — of water
  10. spring — a coil
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. spring — the season
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — for digging
  15. content — happy
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. cell — a phone
  18. charge — a price
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. fall — to drop
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. fall — the season
  23. cell — in biology
  24. pitch — completely

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