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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. field — farmland
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. game — wild animals
  6. charge — a price
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. bark — a dog's sound
  9. field — for sport
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. pass — a permit
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. field — a subject
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. spring — a coil
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. game — a match
  19. spring — of water
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. spring — the season
  22. charge — in control
  23. bark — to shout
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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