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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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. spell — letters
  3. spell — magic
  4. cell — in biology
  5. cell — a phone
  6. spell — a short time
  7. hand — in cards
  8. swing — to play on
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. swing — music
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. charge — in control
  13. bound — certain
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. swing — in golf
  16. land — ground
  17. bound — tied together
  18. hand — help
  19. charge — electricity
  20. bound — obliged
  21. land — to come down
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. land — a country

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