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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 124 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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Word bank
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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. march — the month
  3. clip — to cut
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. clip — for paper
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. game — wild animals
  10. spring — a coil
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. content — the amount
  13. game — a match
  14. charge — in control
  15. spell — letters
  16. spring — the season
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. spring — of water
  19. spell — magic
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. clip — a video
  22. charge — electricity
  23. content — happy
  24. spell — a short time

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