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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. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — in control
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. hand — help
  4. root — of a word
  5. net — in sport
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. mine — for digging
  8. pound — a weight
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. charge — electricity
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. net — for catching
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. chest — of your body
  16. hand — in cards
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. net — after costs
  20. chair — a leader
  21. charge — a price
  22. root — the cause
  23. chest — a box
  24. root — of a plant

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