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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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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: straw · charge · racket · snap · chest · row · stick · content

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. snap — to click
  6. chest — a box
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. row — to paddle
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. content — the amount
  14. content — happy
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. row — a line
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. charge — electricity
  20. chest — of your body
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. chest — of your body
  23. charge — in control
  24. straw — dry grass

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