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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: chair · degree · charge · saw · prune · pitcher · content · net

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. degree — from a university
  3. net — in sport
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. degree — temperature
  9. content — the amount
  10. saw — the tool
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — to trim
  13. content — happy
  14. charge — in control
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. saw — the tool
  18. chair — a leader
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. net — for catching
  22. degree — an amount
  23. charge — a price
  24. net — after costs

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