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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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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. charge — a price
  4. charge — in control
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. clip — for paper
  7. court — for sport
  8. prune — to trim
  9. prune — to trim
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. court — of law
  14. clip — a video
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. content — the amount
  18. hand — help
  19. clip — to cut
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. content — happy
  22. season — of the year
  23. season — in sport
  24. court — of a king

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