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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 116 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. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. key — for a lock
  3. track — a path
  4. charge — a price
  5. key — in music
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. key — the most important part
  8. mine — for digging
  9. track — a song
  10. fall — to drop
  11. track — to keep track
  12. fall — to drop
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. shower — to wash
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. pitch — completely
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. fall — the season
  20. shower — rain
  21. charge — in control
  22. fork — in a road
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. pitch — a sports field

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