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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. degree — temperature
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. charge — a price
  5. clip — a video
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. drill — a practice
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. content — happy
  10. drill — army training
  11. wound — an injury
  12. drill — the tool
  13. wound — an injury
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. charge — in control
  16. lie — to recline
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. degree — from a university
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. perch — the fish
  21. degree — an amount
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — for paper
  24. content — the amount

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