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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. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — in control
  2. charge — electricity
  3. charge — a price
  4. spell — a short time
  5. season — of the year
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. spell — letters
  8. firm — a company
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. firm — steady
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. shower — to wash
  14. cold — not warm
  15. file — a tool
  16. file — a line of people
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. file — a document
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. spell — magic
  21. firm — decided
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. season — in sport

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