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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: content · capital · shower · drill · clip · charge · bulb · bound

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. content — the amount
  3. charge — in control
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. bulb — for light
  6. drill — a practice
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. content — happy
  9. bound — tied together
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bound — certain
  12. capital — a city
  13. bound — obliged
  14. bulb — for light
  15. shower — rain
  16. charge — a price
  17. drill — army training
  18. capital — money
  19. shower — to wash
  20. clip — a video
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. drill — the tool
  23. clip — for paper
  24. content — videos and posts

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