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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. charge — in control
  4. fall — the season
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. ground — the earth
  7. band — a music group
  8. mine — for digging
  9. band — a ring
  10. mate — a partner
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. ground — crushed
  13. fall — to drop
  14. charge — a price
  15. march — the month
  16. fall — to drop
  17. ground — a position
  18. row — a line
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. mate — to breed
  22. mate — a friend
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. row — to paddle

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