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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — the amount
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. face — to point toward
  6. saw — the tool
  7. file — a tool
  8. file — a document
  9. charge — a price
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. file — a line of people
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. chip — to eat
  17. saw — the tool
  18. chip — for betting
  19. charge — in control
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. charge — electricity
  22. face — to confront
  23. face — part of the head
  24. chair — a leader

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