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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. charge — electricity
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. charge — a price
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. root — the cause
  7. charge — in control
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. rash — hasty
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. mine — for digging
  14. rash — a series
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cold — not warm
  18. root — of a plant
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. tear — to rip
  21. root — of a word
  22. tear — from crying
  23. cold — an illness
  24. saw — the tool

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