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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. charge — electricity
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. press — to push
  5. clip — a video
  6. capital — a city
  7. capital — money
  8. content — happy
  9. dip — to sink
  10. kid — child
  11. charge — in control
  12. press — newspapers
  13. clip — for paper
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. content — the amount
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. charge — a price
  20. clip — to cut
  21. press — a publisher
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. pass — a permit

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