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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. clip — a video
  3. game — wild animals
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — to tease
  6. calf — of the leg
  7. ball — a great time
  8. charge — in control
  9. mate — to breed
  10. land — to come down
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. clip — to cut
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. charge — a price
  16. clip — for paper
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. game — a match
  19. land — ground
  20. mate — a partner
  21. mate — a friend
  22. land — a country
  23. ball — a dance
  24. calf — a young animal

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