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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: spell · snap · cell · wind · degree · charge

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spell — letters
  5. charge — a price
  6. wind — moving air
  7. spell — magic
  8. wind — moving air
  9. snap — to click
  10. degree — an amount
  11. degree — temperature
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. degree — from a university
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cell — in biology
  18. charge — in control

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