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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. The tickets are free of ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. field — a subject
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. charge — in control
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bore — to tire
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. prune — to trim
  9. court — of a king
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. rash — hasty
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. file — a tool
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. bore — to drill
  17. court — for sport
  18. file — a line of people
  19. rash — a series
  20. charge — a price
  21. file — a document
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — for sport
  24. court — of law

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