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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: content · mug · spell · charge · stand · spring · cap · court

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. spring — a coil
  3. spring — the season
  4. spring — of water
  5. charge — electricity
  6. mug — a face
  7. charge — a price
  8. court — for sport
  9. court — of a king
  10. mug — a cup
  11. spell — a short time
  12. cap — of ice
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. cap — a lid
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. content — the amount
  17. spell — letters
  18. spell — magic
  19. mug — to rob
  20. cap — a hat
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. charge — in control
  23. court — of law
  24. stand — to bear

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