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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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. charge — a price
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. cold — an illness
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. rule — a law
  9. cold — not warm
  10. face — to confront
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. scale — size or range
  13. kid — to tease
  14. chip — for betting
  15. dip — to sink
  16. face — part of the head
  17. kid — child
  18. charge — in control
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. chip — to eat
  22. face — to point toward
  23. scale — in music
  24. rule — government

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