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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 120 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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. cold — an illness
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. pass — a permit
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. cell — in biology
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. kid — to tease
  10. charge — a price
  11. march — the month
  12. march — music
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. foot — a measure
  15. row — to paddle
  16. charge — in control
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. march — the month
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. cell — a phone
  21. kid — child
  22. cold — not warm
  23. row — a line
  24. pass — to spend 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