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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. spell — letters
  3. cold — not warm
  4. spell — a short time
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. charge — in control
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. hand — in cards
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. wind — moving air
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. charge — electricity
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. spell — magic
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. hand — help

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