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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. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — in control
  2. cold — an illness
  3. charge — a price
  4. game — a match
  5. ball — a dance
  6. shower — rain
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. net — after costs
  9. cold — not warm
  10. chair — a leader
  11. charge — electricity
  12. net — for catching
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. game — wild animals
  16. net — in sport
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. current — happening now
  20. current — of water
  21. ball — a great time
  22. shower — to wash
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. current — electric

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