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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. charge — electricity
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. craft — boats
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. perch — the fish
  8. land — a country
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. charge — a price
  15. charge — in control
  16. craft — a skill
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — the animal
  19. land — to come down
  20. sharp — clever
  21. land — ground
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. content — the amount
  24. craft — a handicraft

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