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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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. wound — an injury
  3. last — final
  4. charge — in control
  5. capital — money
  6. march — music
  7. last — to go on
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. cap — a hat
  10. game — a match
  11. object — a thing
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. game — wild animals
  14. march — the month
  15. march — the month
  16. cap — a lid
  17. object — to protest
  18. cap — of ice
  19. object — an aim
  20. charge — a price
  21. last — finally
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. capital — a city

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