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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. charge — electricity
  3. charge — in control
  4. staff — employees
  5. file — a document
  6. capital — money
  7. file — a tool
  8. mark — a trace
  9. degree — an amount
  10. rash — hasty
  11. degree — from a university
  12. staff — a stick
  13. capital — a city
  14. staff — employees
  15. mark — a grade
  16. mine — for digging
  17. degree — temperature
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. rash — a series
  20. file — a line of people
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. charge — a price

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