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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. court — for sport
  3. rash — a series
  4. cap — a hat
  5. degree — an amount
  6. cap — of ice
  7. charge — electricity
  8. wind — moving air
  9. file — a document
  10. rash — hasty
  11. degree — from a university
  12. cap — a lid
  13. court — of a king
  14. file — a line of people
  15. track — a path
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. track — a song
  18. degree — temperature
  19. track — to keep track
  20. file — a tool
  21. charge — in control
  22. wind — moving air
  23. charge — a price
  24. court — of law

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