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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. spell — letters
  3. cold — an illness
  4. charge — a price
  5. spell — magic
  6. drill — army training
  7. staff — employees
  8. degree — temperature
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cell — a phone
  11. wound — an injury
  12. staff — a stick
  13. degree — an amount
  14. charge — electricity
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. staff — employees
  17. cell — in biology
  18. degree — from a university
  19. wound — an injury
  20. charge — in control
  21. drill — a practice
  22. drill — the tool
  23. cold — not warm
  24. spell — a short time

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