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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. cell — a phone
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. field — farmland
  5. charge — a price
  6. bank — for money
  7. charge — in control
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. bank — of a river
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. cell — in biology
  13. bank — for money
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. kick — in football
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. field — for sport
  20. kid — child
  21. kid — to tease
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. bark — to shout
  24. field — a subject

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