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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. bore — to tire
  3. bank — of a river
  4. bank — for money
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. cell — a phone
  7. capital — a city
  8. charge — a price
  9. bore — to drill
  10. capital — money
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cell — in biology
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bat — the animal
  17. shower — rain
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. shower — to wash
  23. charge — in control
  24. bank — for money

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