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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. charge — electricity
  3. charge — a price
  4. last — final
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. charge — in control
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. mine — for digging
  12. last — finally
  13. last — to go on
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. date — the fruit
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. mate — a partner
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — moving air
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. kid — to tease
  22. mate — a friend
  23. mate — to breed
  24. cabinet — ministers

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