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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 120 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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. row — a line
  3. charge — a price
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. stock — shares
  6. face — to confront
  7. land — a country
  8. face — to point toward
  9. land — ground
  10. charge — in control
  11. face — part of the head
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. drill — army training
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. snap — to click
  18. charge — electricity
  19. drill — a practice
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. row — to paddle
  22. stock — goods
  23. drill — the tool
  24. land — to come down

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