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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 120 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. sharp — clever
  3. charge — a price
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. charge — electricity
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. bank — for money
  13. bank — for money
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. saw — the tool
  18. bank — of a river
  19. charge — in control
  20. cold — not warm
  21. saw — the tool
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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