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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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. bound — tied together
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. spell — letters
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bear — the animal
  8. bear — the animal
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. spell — magic
  12. clip — to cut
  13. charge — in control
  14. spell — a short time
  15. chip — for betting
  16. field — a subject
  17. clip — a video
  18. charge — a price
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. field — farmland
  21. bound — obliged
  22. bound — certain
  23. field — for sport
  24. chip — to eat

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