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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. fall — the season
  3. chest — of your body
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. scale — size or range
  6. charge — in control
  7. kid — child
  8. kid — to tease
  9. date — the fruit
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. scale — in music
  12. chest — a box
  13. fall — to drop
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. charge — a price
  18. track — a path
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. track — a song
  21. cell — a phone
  22. fall — to drop
  23. track — to keep track
  24. chest — of your body

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