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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. sharp — clever
  3. season — in sport
  4. cue — a signal
  5. charge — in control
  6. charge — a price
  7. march — the month
  8. bat — the animal
  9. cue — a hint
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. cell — in biology
  16. march — the month
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. season — of the year
  19. charge — electricity
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. march — music
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cue — for pool
  24. bat — for baseball

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