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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 116 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. mate — to breed
  3. charge — electricity
  4. charge — in control
  5. pound — a weight
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. charge — a price
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. band — a ring
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. cold — not warm
  13. shower — rain
  14. mate — a friend
  15. file — a document
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. file — a line of people
  18. file — a tool
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. band — a music group
  21. shower — to wash
  22. mate — a partner
  23. stand — to bear
  24. cold — the Cold War

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