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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. hand — in cards
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. spring — of water
  6. root — the cause
  7. charge — a price
  8. spring — the season
  9. ground — a position
  10. root — of a plant
  11. clip — for paper
  12. spring — a coil
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. ground — crushed
  16. ground — the earth
  17. root — of a word
  18. fork — in a road
  19. hand — help
  20. clip — a video
  21. charge — in control
  22. clip — to cut
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. leaves — lets stay

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