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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 120 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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. cold — not warm
  3. clip — for paper
  4. cold — an illness
  5. rock — music
  6. charge — a price
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. clip — a video
  9. vault — a safe
  10. clip — to cut
  11. rock — a stone
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. suit — in cards
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. suit — clothes
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. suit — to fit
  18. craft — boats
  19. vault — in gymnastics
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. craft — a skill
  22. bat — the animal
  23. charge — in control
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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