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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. game — wild animals
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. chest — a box
  5. game — a match
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. chest — of your body
  8. charge — a price
  9. roll — a cake
  10. race — a contest
  11. roll — a list
  12. capital — money
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. charge — in control
  16. bass — low music
  17. capital — a city
  18. race — humankind
  19. mate — a partner
  20. chest — of your body
  21. race — the arms race
  22. mate — to breed
  23. mate — a friend
  24. bass — the fish

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