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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. land — a country
  3. capital — a city
  4. last — final
  5. fall — to drop
  6. charge — a price
  7. spring — a coil
  8. last — finally
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. press — to push
  11. fall — to drop
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. charge — in control
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. fall — the season
  17. spring — of water
  18. spring — the season
  19. last — to go on
  20. land — ground
  21. land — to come down
  22. press — newspapers
  23. press — a publisher
  24. capital — 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