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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. net — after costs
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. charge — a price
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. can — to be able to
  7. net — for catching
  8. chair — a leader
  9. charge — electricity
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. cell — a phone
  12. kid — to tease
  13. net — in sport
  14. can — a tin
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. sharp — clever
  17. roll — a list
  18. kid — child
  19. charge — in control
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. can — a tin
  22. cell — in biology
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. chair — a professorship

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