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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. charge — electricity
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. spell — a short time
  5. charge — a price
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. spell — letters
  8. swing — to play on
  9. cold — not warm
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. wake — a trail
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. charge — in control
  17. bark — to shout
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. swing — in golf
  20. cold — an illness
  21. sharp — clever
  22. spell — magic
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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