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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — not warm
  6. clip — a video
  7. degree — from a university
  8. cue — for pool
  9. charge — a price
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. degree — temperature
  12. cue — a signal
  13. cue — a hint
  14. degree — an amount
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. charge — in control
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. clip — for paper
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. clip — to cut
  24. cold — an illness

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