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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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. file — a tool
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. squash — to crush
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. cell — a phone
  7. charge — in control
  8. squash — the sport
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. file — a document
  11. field — a subject
  12. file — a line of people
  13. field — farmland
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. cell — in biology
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. shower — to wash
  20. charge — electricity
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. field — for sport
  23. shower — rain
  24. fork — in a road

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