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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. net — after costs
  3. capital — money
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. bound — obliged
  6. cold — an illness
  7. net — in sport
  8. bound — certain
  9. charge — in control
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. safe — a strongbox
  12. shower — to wash
  13. shower — rain
  14. capital — a city
  15. race — humankind
  16. race — a contest
  17. cold — not warm
  18. bound — tied together
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. net — for catching
  21. charge — a price
  22. race — the arms race
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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