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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. charge — electricity
  3. chip — to eat
  4. kid — child
  5. charge — a price
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. charge — in control
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. shower — to wash
  11. march — the month
  12. fall — the season
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. march — music
  15. mine — for digging
  16. march — the month
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. kid — to tease
  19. chip — for betting
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. shower — rain
  22. fall — to drop
  23. branch — a division
  24. branch — of a bank

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