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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: straw · charge · plane · content · row · chest · cap · scale

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. chest — of your body
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. content — happy
  7. cap — a hat
  8. chest — a box
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. plane — a tool
  11. charge — a price
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. content — the amount
  14. cap — a lid
  15. row — a line
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. scale — size or range
  18. row — to paddle
  19. chest — of your body
  20. charge — in control
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. scale — in music
  23. cap — of ice
  24. scale — for weighing

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