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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 120 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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. capital — money
  3. charge — in control
  4. spring — of water
  5. spring — the season
  6. content — the amount
  7. clip — for paper
  8. kid — to tease
  9. spring — a coil
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. clip — to cut
  13. chip — for betting
  14. charge — a price
  15. content — happy
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. clip — a video
  21. capital — a city
  22. chip — to eat
  23. charge — electricity
  24. content — videos and posts

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