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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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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. rock — music
  3. charge — a price
  4. wax — to grow
  5. rock — a stone
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. land — ground
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. wound — an injury
  11. land — a country
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. saw — the tool
  15. perch — the fish
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. kid — child
  18. land — to come down
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. kid — to tease
  22. wound — an injury
  23. saw — the tool
  24. charge — in control

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