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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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. roll — a cake
  4. race — the arms race
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. scale — in music
  7. charge — electricity
  8. club — for golf
  9. sharp — clever
  10. roll — a list
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. band — a ring
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. file — a document
  15. band — a music group
  16. race — humankind
  17. file — a line of people
  18. race — a contest
  19. file — a tool
  20. club — a group
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. charge — in control
  23. club — for dancing
  24. scale — size or range

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