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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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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: charge · pop · kid · perch · fork · spell · wind · chip

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. perch — the fish
  3. spell — magic
  4. kid — to tease
  5. charge — in control
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. kid — child
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. wind — moving air
  11. charge — a price
  12. charge — electricity
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. spell — a short time
  17. fork — in a road
  18. wind — moving air
  19. chip — to eat
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. pop — to visit
  22. pop — music
  23. spell — letters
  24. chip — for betting

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