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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. charge — in control
  3. hand — in cards
  4. scale — size or range
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. charge — a price
  7. clip — for paper
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. clip — to cut
  10. field — a subject
  11. rash — hasty
  12. charge — electricity
  13. field — farmland
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. scale — in music
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. field — for sport
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. deal — to handle
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pitch — completely
  23. clip — a video
  24. rash — a series

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