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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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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: charge · temple · patient · hide · content · arm · degree · cold

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. content — the amount
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. charge — a price
  7. cold — not warm
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. degree — from a university
  10. cold — an illness
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. charge — in control
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. content — happy
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. degree — temperature
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. degree — an amount
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. hide — animal skin

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