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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: fan · content · ground · calf · charge · court · dip · clip

  1. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  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. fan — a supporter
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. charge — a price
  4. court — of a king
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. ground — the earth
  7. ground — crushed
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. court — for sport
  10. clip — to cut
  11. content — the amount
  12. dip — to sink
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. ground — a position
  15. charge — in control
  16. clip — a video
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. charge — electricity
  21. clip — for paper
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. content — happy
  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