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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. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. land — a country
  3. clip — for paper
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. charge — a price
  6. fine — all right
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. club — for golf
  9. land — to come down
  10. clip — to cut
  11. spell — a short time
  12. fine — high quality
  13. scale — in music
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. club — a group
  16. charge — in control
  17. clip — a video
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. scale — size or range
  20. club — for dancing
  21. bat — the animal
  22. spell — letters
  23. land — ground
  24. spell — magic

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