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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. capital — money
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. present — a gift
  6. present — there
  7. charge — in control
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. cell — in biology
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. bat — the animal
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. present — the time now
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. mine — for digging
  18. charge — electricity
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. capital — a city
  22. charge — a price
  23. cell — a phone
  24. cold — an illness

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