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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. charge — electricity
  3. pound — a weight
  4. craft — a handicraft
  5. craft — boats
  6. wake — a trail
  7. clip — for paper
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. capital — money
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. craft — a skill
  13. capital — a city
  14. clip — to cut
  15. charge — a price
  16. charge — in control
  17. cold — not warm
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. clip — a video
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — happy
  22. content — the amount
  23. cold — an illness
  24. wake — to stop sleeping

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