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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. file — a tool
  3. cold — not warm
  4. staff — a stick
  5. charge — a price
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. key — for a lock
  8. staff — employees
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ground — the earth
  11. toast — bread
  12. key — the most important part
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. file — a document
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. file — a line of people
  18. key — in music
  19. ground — a position
  20. charge — in control
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. staff — employees
  24. cold — an illness

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