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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 116 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: file · cell · trunk · content · charge · bat · chair · shower

  1. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. charge — in control
  2. file — a tool
  3. chair — a leader
  4. file — a line of people
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. shower — to wash
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. content — happy
  12. charge — electricity
  13. bat — the animal
  14. content — the amount
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. shower — rain
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. file — a document
  20. charge — a price
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. cell — in biology
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. cell — a phone

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