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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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. suit — to fit
  3. cap — of ice
  4. charge — a price
  5. lie — to recline
  6. band — a ring
  7. march — music
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. race — the arms race
  10. degree — temperature
  11. degree — from a university
  12. race — humankind
  13. degree — an amount
  14. race — a contest
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. suit — in cards
  17. charge — in control
  18. band — a music group
  19. march — the month
  20. march — the month
  21. suit — clothes
  22. cap — a lid
  23. cap — a hat
  24. lie — an untruth

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