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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. My father caught me by the ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. The tickets are free of ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. charge — electricity
  4. last — to go on
  5. current — happening now
  6. current — electric
  7. spell — letters
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. cold — an illness
  10. last — final
  11. charge — in control
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — not warm
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. current — of water
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. spell — a short time
  19. charge — a price
  20. last — finally
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. spell — magic

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