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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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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. charge — a price
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. charge — in control
  6. tear — from crying
  7. spring — of water
  8. rock — a stone
  9. file — a line of people
  10. file — a document
  11. spring — the season
  12. wax — to grow
  13. rock — music
  14. spring — a coil
  15. tear — from crying
  16. chair — a leader
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. capital — money
  20. tear — to rip
  21. capital — a city
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. chair — a professorship

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