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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 120 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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. file — a tool
  3. file — a document
  4. charge — a price
  5. charge — electricity
  6. fall — to drop
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bat — the animal
  9. file — a line of people
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — to tease
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. fall — the season
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. fall — to drop
  17. shower — rain
  18. season — in sport
  19. shower — to wash
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. charge — in control
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. season — of the year
  24. bat — in an idiom

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