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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. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. field — farmland
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — for sport
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. chest — of your body
  8. charge — in control
  9. band — a music group
  10. spring — a coil
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. charge — a price
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — a box
  17. spring — the season
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. hand — in cards
  20. spring — of water
  21. wake — a trail
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. band — a ring
  24. hand — help

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