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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  14. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. root — of a word
  3. pop — soda
  4. perch — the fish
  5. pop — to visit
  6. charge — in control
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. charge — a price
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. chest — of your body
  11. wave — a sudden rise
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. press — newspapers
  14. press — a publisher
  15. pop — music
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — the animal
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. chest — a box
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. press — to push
  22. chest — of your body
  23. root — the cause
  24. root — of a plant

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