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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 116 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: land · game · content · saw · wake · current · charge · bat

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. content — happy
  3. bat — the animal
  4. current — happening now
  5. land — a country
  6. land — to come down
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. saw — the tool
  10. game — wild animals
  11. content — the amount
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. land — ground
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. charge — electricity
  17. charge — in control
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. wake — a trail
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. charge — a price
  22. current — of water
  23. saw — the tool
  24. current — electric

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