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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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. charge — electricity
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. court — for sport
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. clip — for paper
  7. season — in sport
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. clip — a video
  10. court — of a king
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. press — a publisher
  15. charge — in control
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. wax — to grow
  19. press — newspapers
  20. court — of law
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bark — to shout
  23. season — of the year
  24. press — to push

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