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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. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  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. charge — in control
  2. charge — electricity
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. craft — boats
  5. charge — a price
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. chair — a leader
  9. kid — to tease
  10. cold — not warm
  11. ground — the earth
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. ground — crushed
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. kid — child
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. ground — a position
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — an illness
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. spell — magic
  22. craft — a skill
  23. spell — letters
  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