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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 120 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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. wound — an injury
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. land — to come down
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. hand — in cards
  7. stock — goods
  8. wound — an injury
  9. hand — help
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. bat — the animal
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. saw — the tool
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. charge — in control
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. land — ground
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. land — a country
  22. stock — shares
  23. charge — electricity
  24. saw — the tool

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