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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: present · season · cold · charge · rush · clip · content · stem

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. clip — a video
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. present — a gift
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. present — the time now
  7. clip — for paper
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. content — happy
  10. clip — to cut
  11. rush — hurry
  12. charge — a price
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — not warm
  15. charge — in control
  16. season — in sport
  17. season — of the year
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. stem — to come from
  21. charge — electricity
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. content — the amount
  24. present — there

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