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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: lean · content · court · cold · charge · kid · plane · degree

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. degree — temperature
  3. content — the amount
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. lean — thin
  6. court — for sport
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. court — of law
  9. plane — a tool
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. charge — electricity
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. degree — from a university
  16. cold — not warm
  17. kid — child
  18. court — of a king
  19. cold — an illness
  20. kid — to tease
  21. charge — in control
  22. degree — an amount
  23. content — happy
  24. charge — a price

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