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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. ball — a great time
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. capital — a city
  9. row — a line
  10. bound — certain
  11. charge — in control
  12. charge — a price
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. bound — tied together
  15. ball — a dance
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. row — to paddle
  18. bore — to tire
  19. bore — to drill
  20. bound — obliged
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. capital — money
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. cold — not warm

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