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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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468
Word bank
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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. cell — a phone
  4. content — the amount
  5. current — electric
  6. content — happy
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. shower — to wash
  15. current — happening now
  16. shower — rain
  17. cell — in biology
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. current — of water
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. wind — moving air
  23. charge — in control
  24. charge — electricity

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