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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: charge · stock · kid · clip · spell · date · season · spring

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. charge — in control
  4. spring — a coil
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — a video
  7. charge — a price
  8. stock — goods
  9. charge — electricity
  10. stock — shares
  11. spell — magic
  12. spring — of water
  13. season — in sport
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. spring — the season
  16. date — the fruit
  17. season — of the year
  18. kid — to tease
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. kid — child
  21. clip — for paper
  22. spell — letters
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. date — on the calendar

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