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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. capital — money
  3. charge — electricity
  4. charge — in control
  5. capital — a city
  6. roll — a cake
  7. land — to come down
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. pop — to visit
  11. bat — the animal
  12. pop — music
  13. land — a country
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. land — ground
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. game — a match
  19. game — wild animals
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. roll — a list
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. charge — a price

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