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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. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  2. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — in control
  2. fork — in a road
  3. degree — from a university
  4. file — a tool
  5. content — the amount
  6. charge — electricity
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. race — humankind
  9. content — happy
  10. charge — a price
  11. degree — temperature
  12. file — a document
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. file — a line of people
  15. degree — an amount
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. capital — money
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. race — the arms race
  21. race — a contest
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. capital — a city
  24. fork — a garden tool

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