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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  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. cap — a lid
  3. swing — to play on
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cap — a hat
  6. branch — a division
  7. cap — of ice
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. swing — in golf
  10. ball — a dance
  11. mine — for digging
  12. swing — music
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. ball — a great time
  17. tear — to rip
  18. charge — a price
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. charge — in control
  22. hand — help
  23. tear — from crying
  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