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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: foot · charge · rush · wind · content · ruler · cold · hand

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. content — happy
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. hand — help
  5. cold — an illness
  6. content — the amount
  7. wind — moving air
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. rush — hurry
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. charge — electricity
  15. foot — a measure
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. cold — not warm
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — in cards
  21. charge — in control
  22. charge — a price
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. wind — moving air

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