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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 116 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 water is too ________________.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cap — a lid
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. charge — a price
  6. net — in sport
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cap — of ice
  9. net — for catching
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. stand — to bear
  13. march — music
  14. net — after costs
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. march — the month
  17. season — of the year
  18. season — in sport
  19. cell — in biology
  20. charge — electricity
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. march — the month
  24. charge — in control

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