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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. file — a line of people
  3. staff — employees
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. ball — a great time
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. staff — a stick
  11. charge — in control
  12. charge — a price
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. bass — the fish
  15. mine — for digging
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. file — a document
  19. cold — not warm
  20. file — a tool
  21. staff — employees
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. bass — low music
  24. ball — a dance

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