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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: kid · board · wave · court · spell · charge · content · nail

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. court — of a king
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. spell — a short time
  5. board — to get on
  6. board — a committee
  7. spell — magic
  8. kid — child
  9. charge — in control
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. charge — a price
  12. spell — letters
  13. kid — to tease
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. content — the amount
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. charge — electricity
  22. court — for sport
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. court — of law

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