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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. staff — employees
  3. charge — a price
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. staff — employees
  7. staff — a stick
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. rash — a series
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. charge — in control
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. rash — hasty
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. kick — in football
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. chair — a leader
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. bat — the animal
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. wax — to grow

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