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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. The tickets are free of ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. mine — for digging
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. net — in sport
  5. charge — in control
  6. face — to point toward
  7. prune — to trim
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. net — after costs
  10. face — part of the head
  11. prune — to trim
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. face — to confront
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. net — for catching
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. row — a line
  22. stand — to bear
  23. charge — a price
  24. row — to paddle

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