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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: march · wound · wake · land · content · can · spring · charge

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  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. land — ground
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wound — an injury
  4. march — the month
  5. can — to be able to
  6. spring — of water
  7. charge — electricity
  8. land — a country
  9. spring — a coil
  10. can — a tin
  11. march — music
  12. charge — a price
  13. charge — in control
  14. spring — the season
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. can — a tin
  17. content — happy
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wound — an injury
  20. land — to come down
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. march — the month
  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