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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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. charge — a price
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. band — a ring
  6. band — a music group
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. key — for a lock
  9. charge — in control
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. key — in music
  12. field — farmland
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. field — a subject
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. cold — not warm
  19. field — for sport
  20. key — the most important part
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. pitcher — a jug

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