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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. shower — to wash
  3. mine — for digging
  4. hand — help
  5. current — happening now
  6. rest — a break
  7. rest — what's left
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. bear — the animal
  10. pop — to visit
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. bear — the animal
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. charge — a price
  16. rest — what's left
  17. current — electric
  18. current — of water
  19. charge — in control
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. pop — soda
  22. shower — rain
  23. pop — music
  24. hand — in cards

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