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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. rash — hasty
  3. charge — a price
  4. cell — a phone
  5. fork — in a road
  6. rash — a series
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. degree — temperature
  10. saw — the tool
  11. hand — help
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. track — to keep track
  15. track — a song
  16. degree — an amount
  17. saw — the tool
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. degree — from a university
  20. hand — in cards
  21. charge — in control
  22. track — a path
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. cell — in biology

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