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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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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: race · saw · branch · charge · court · content · last · field

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. last — final
  3. court — for sport
  4. saw — the tool
  5. charge — a price
  6. last — to go on
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. court — of law
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. field — for sport
  11. saw — the tool
  12. last — finally
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. branch — a division
  15. race — humankind
  16. field — farmland
  17. content — happy
  18. content — the amount
  19. race — a contest
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. field — a subject
  22. charge — in control
  23. court — of a king
  24. race — the arms race

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