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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: branch · field · kid · charge · capital · net · content · fan

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. kid — to tease
  3. net — in sport
  4. branch — a division
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. content — happy
  7. net — after costs
  8. kid — child
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. field — a subject
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. charge — in control
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. capital — a city
  17. field — farmland
  18. field — for sport
  19. charge — a price
  20. capital — money
  21. content — the amount
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. net — for catching

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