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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. row — a line
  4. band — a music group
  5. pop — music
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. charge — a price
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. pop — to visit
  13. rash — hasty
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. row — to paddle
  17. band — a ring
  18. hand — in cards
  19. toast — bread
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. pop — soda
  22. rash — a series
  23. charge — electricity
  24. charge — in control

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