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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. march — the month
  3. charge — electricity
  4. charge — a price
  5. clip — for paper
  6. land — a country
  7. land — ground
  8. land — to come down
  9. clip — to cut
  10. stock — goods
  11. wake — a trail
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. last — to go on
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. last — final
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. stock — shares
  18. march — the month
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. charge — in control
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. clip — a video
  23. last — finally
  24. march — music

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