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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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. prune — to trim
  3. kid — child
  4. degree — an amount
  5. land — a country
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. rash — hasty
  9. rash — a series
  10. charge — electricity
  11. land — to come down
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. charge — in control
  14. tear — from crying
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. kid — to tease
  17. degree — temperature
  18. fork — in a road
  19. tear — to rip
  20. prune — to trim
  21. tear — from crying
  22. degree — from a university
  23. land — ground
  24. rash — on the skin

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