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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. charge — electricity
  3. ball — a great time
  4. rest — what's left
  5. file — a line of people
  6. charge — a price
  7. lean — thin
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. cold — not warm
  12. lean — to bend
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. charge — in control
  16. file — a document
  17. file — a tool
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. row — a line
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. row — to paddle
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. rest — what's left
  24. rest — a break

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