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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: file · land · mark · content · straw · charge · trunk · snap

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. content — the amount
  3. snap — to click
  4. mark — a grade
  5. file — a tool
  6. content — happy
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. land — ground
  9. land — to come down
  10. land — a country
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. file — a line of people
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. charge — in control
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. charge — a price
  17. file — a document
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. mark — a trace
  24. mark — to pay attention

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