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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  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. pop — music
  2. charge — electricity
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — of your body
  6. charge — a price
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. chest — a box
  9. spell — magic
  10. mark — a grade
  11. ground — the earth
  12. spell — letters
  13. pop — to visit
  14. wind — moving air
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. ground — a position
  17. spell — a short time
  18. ground — crushed
  19. mark — a trace
  20. pop — soda
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. wind — moving air
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  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