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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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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. charge — a price
  4. kid — child
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. degree — an amount
  8. sharp — clever
  9. file — a line of people
  10. charge — in control
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. file — a document
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. degree — from a university
  16. file — a tool
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. degree — temperature
  19. wax — to grow
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. kid — to tease
  22. wax — in the ear
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. calf — a young animal

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