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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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. fall — to drop
  4. charge — electricity
  5. pop — to visit
  6. game — wild animals
  7. fall — to drop
  8. spell — magic
  9. pop — soda
  10. race — a contest
  11. march — the month
  12. pop — music
  13. march — the month
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bark — to shout
  16. charge — in control
  17. game — a match
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. fall — the season
  20. race — humankind
  21. race — the arms race
  22. spell — letters
  23. march — music
  24. spell — a short time

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