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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. press — a publisher
  4. charge — in control
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. charge — a price
  8. scale — size or range
  9. tear — to rip
  10. press — to push
  11. snap — to click
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. scale — in music
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — from crying
  20. press — newspapers
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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