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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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. charge — electricity
  3. band — a music group
  4. cap — a lid
  5. bass — the fish
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. degree — from a university
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. degree — an amount
  14. bat — the animal
  15. kick — in football
  16. band — a ring
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. cap — a hat
  20. cap — of ice
  21. charge — in control
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. bass — low music
  24. degree — temperature

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