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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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. drill — the tool
  4. drill — army training
  5. degree — from a university
  6. face — part of the head
  7. field — a subject
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. drill — a practice
  10. degree — an amount
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. charge — in control
  13. face — to point toward
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. fall — to drop
  16. degree — temperature
  17. face — to confront
  18. sharp — clever
  19. fall — the season
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. fall — to drop
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — for sport
  24. charge — electricity

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