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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. kid — to tease
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. last — final
  5. last — to go on
  6. charge — a price
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. rock — music
  10. file — a line of people
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. last — finally
  13. charge — in control
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. capital — money
  16. file — a tool
  17. capital — a city
  18. perch — the fish
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. kid — child
  21. rock — a stone
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. file — a document
  24. straw — a straw man

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