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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. rule — a law
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. spring — the season
  6. last — final
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. last — to go on
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. charge — a price
  11. drill — army training
  12. drill — the tool
  13. last — finally
  14. rule — government
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. charge — in control
  17. drill — a practice
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. spring — a coil
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. fork — in a road
  23. spring — of water
  24. bat — for baseball

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