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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 took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. net — for catching
  3. drill — a practice
  4. land — ground
  5. stock — shares
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. land — a country
  9. land — to come down
  10. drill — the tool
  11. stock — goods
  12. cold — an illness
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. game — a match
  15. net — after costs
  16. cue — for pool
  17. cue — a hint
  18. charge — in control
  19. cue — a signal
  20. charge — a price
  21. game — wild animals
  22. net — in sport
  23. drill — army training
  24. cold — not warm

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