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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. toast — bread
  3. charge — in control
  4. spell — a short time
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. spell — letters
  7. charge — a price
  8. tube — a container
  9. mine — for digging
  10. deal — to handle
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. spell — magic
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. cold — not warm
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. fork — in a road
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. cold — an illness
  24. tube — the underground

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