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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. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. face — to confront
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. cell — a phone
  5. face — part of the head
  6. wind — moving air
  7. face — to point toward
  8. bound — certain
  9. wind — moving air
  10. bound — obliged
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. dip — to sink
  14. cell — in biology
  15. file — a line of people
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. charge — a price
  21. file — a document
  22. bound — tied together
  23. file — a tool
  24. charge — in control

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