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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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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. cold — not warm
  3. key — the most important part
  4. wound — an injury
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. mine — for digging
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. wound — an injury
  10. charge — in control
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. degree — from a university
  13. charge — a price
  14. cold — an illness
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. degree — an amount
  18. craft — a skill
  19. key — in music
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. key — for a lock
  22. degree — temperature
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. craft — boats

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