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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. tube — a container
  4. clip — a video
  5. sharp — clever
  6. charge — electricity
  7. land — ground
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. clip — for paper
  12. charge — a price
  13. chair — a leader
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. clip — to cut
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. tube — the underground
  20. cell — a phone
  21. charge — in control
  22. land — a country
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. sharp — with an edge

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