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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. court — for sport
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. charge — a price
  6. tube — a container
  7. charge — electricity
  8. court — of law
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. pitch — completely
  12. mine — for digging
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. cell — in biology
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. wax — to grow
  19. season — of the year
  20. court — of a king
  21. season — in sport
  22. charge — in control
  23. tube — the underground
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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