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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.

Make a worksheet

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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. charge — electricity
  3. spell — letters
  4. pop — music
  5. pop — to visit
  6. staff — employees
  7. charge — in control
  8. spring — a coil
  9. spell — a short time
  10. spring — of water
  11. spell — magic
  12. staff — a stick
  13. charge — a price
  14. spring — the season
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pop — soda
  18. cold — an illness

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