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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  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. tube — the underground
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. chair — a leader
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. game — a match
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. game — wild animals
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. charge — a price
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. charge — electricity
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. cell — in biology
  16. snap — to click
  17. cell — a phone
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. mine — for digging
  23. tube — a container
  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