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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: wind · stem · squash · content · cell · band · charge · straw

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. wind — moving air
  3. band — a music group
  4. cell — a phone
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. content — happy
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. charge — in control
  12. charge — electricity
  13. cell — in biology
  14. stem — to come from
  15. content — the amount
  16. band — a ring
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. charge — a price
  22. squash — to crush
  23. wind — moving air
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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