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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 112 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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — in control
  2. charge — a price
  3. rest — what's left
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. cell — a phone
  6. band — a music group
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. wax — to grow
  9. rest — a break
  10. band — a ring
  11. charge — electricity
  12. spring — the season
  13. march — the month
  14. cell — in biology
  15. spring — a coil
  16. row — a line
  17. spring — of water
  18. rest — what's left
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. march — the month
  21. march — music
  22. row — to paddle
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. band — a rubber band

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