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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. charge — electricity
  3. cold — not warm
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — money
  6. court — of law
  7. game — wild animals
  8. fall — to drop
  9. cold — an illness
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. capital — a city
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. game — a match
  14. charge — a price
  15. fall — to drop
  16. bear — the animal
  17. bear — the animal
  18. court — of a king
  19. fall — the season
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. court — for sport
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. charge — in control
  24. bear — to put up with

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