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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 116 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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. march — music
  3. bark — to shout
  4. spring — the season
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. march — the month
  8. spring — of water
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. chip — for betting
  12. charge — in control
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. cold — not warm
  16. spring — a coil
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. chip — to eat
  19. prune — to trim
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. charge — electricity
  23. prune — to trim
  24. march — the month

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