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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
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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 · content · plane · cold · squash · cabinet · band · sharp

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. charge — electricity
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. charge — in control
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. band — a ring
  8. squash — to crush
  9. content — happy
  10. content — the amount
  11. band — a music group
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. charge — a price
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. sharp — clever
  23. cold — an illness
  24. plane — a tool

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