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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. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. snap — to click
  3. charge — in control
  4. capital — a city
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. land — a country
  7. ground — the earth
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. land — ground
  10. file — a document
  11. charge — a price
  12. file — a line of people
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. file — a tool
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. capital — money
  17. land — to come down
  18. ground — crushed
  19. bore — to drill
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. charge — electricity
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. ground — a position

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