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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. charge — a price
  3. content — happy
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. cell — a phone
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — the fish
  9. roll — a cake
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. roll — a list
  13. charge — in control
  14. content — the amount
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cell — in biology
  17. charge — electricity
  18. rule — government
  19. fork — in a road
  20. rule — a law
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. wind — to turn a key

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