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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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cell — a phone
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. charge — electricity
  6. court — for sport
  7. mug — a face
  8. pound — a weight
  9. fork — in a road
  10. court — of a king
  11. charge — in control
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. court — of law
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. season — in sport
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. mug — to rob
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. charge — a price
  22. season — of the year
  23. cell — in biology
  24. pound — to hit hard

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