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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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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: charge · file · pitch · kid · wake · chest · wound · content

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. content — happy
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. charge — a price
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. content — the amount
  7. file — a line of people
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. kid — child
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. kid — to tease
  13. wake — a trail
  14. pitch — completely
  15. charge — in control
  16. wound — an injury
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. file — a document
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. file — a tool
  22. wound — an injury
  23. chest — of your body
  24. charge — electricity

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