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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. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — in control
  2. cap — a lid
  3. charge — a price
  4. court — for sport
  5. lean — to bend
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — to cut
  8. march — the month
  9. court — of law
  10. clip — a video
  11. cap — a hat
  12. charge — electricity
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — farmland
  17. court — of a king
  18. lean — thin
  19. march — the month
  20. field — for sport
  21. cap — of ice
  22. march — music
  23. kick — in football
  24. kick — with a leg

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