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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. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. stock — shares
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. charge — a price
  6. charge — in control
  7. hand — in cards
  8. tube — a container
  9. wound — an injury
  10. prune — to trim
  11. land — to come down
  12. land — a country
  13. stock — goods
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. wound — an injury
  18. hand — help
  19. tube — the underground
  20. shower — to wash
  21. land — ground
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. shower — rain
  24. prune — to trim

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