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

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — a country
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. chest — of your body
  7. land — ground
  8. spell — a short time
  9. object — an aim
  10. snap — to click
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. spell — magic
  13. spell — letters
  14. charge — in control
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. charge — electricity
  17. object — to protest
  18. chest — a box
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. object — a thing
  21. charge — a price
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. date — the fruit
  24. chest — of your body

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