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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 tickets are free of ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. charge — a price
  3. pound — a weight
  4. net — in sport
  5. chip — to eat
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. charge — in control
  8. clip — to cut
  9. date — the fruit
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. bass — the fish
  12. net — for catching
  13. chip — for betting
  14. clip — for paper
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. net — after costs
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. bass — low music
  21. clip — a video
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. chip — in a computer

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