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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. spell — letters
  4. spell — magic
  5. charge — in control
  6. charge — a price
  7. fall — to drop
  8. content — happy
  9. spell — a short time
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. race — the arms race
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. race — a contest
  14. kid — to tease
  15. race — humankind
  16. fall — the season
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. kid — child
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. content — the amount
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. calf — a young animal
  24. fall — to drop

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