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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. charge — a price
  3. ball — a dance
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bear — the animal
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. charge — in control
  9. wound — an injury
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. row — a line
  13. charge — electricity
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — rain
  22. mine — for digging
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. row — to paddle

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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