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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. charge — electricity
  3. charge — a price
  4. present — there
  5. court — for sport
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — of law
  9. chest — a box
  10. charge — in control
  11. chest — of your body
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. drill — a practice
  14. date — the fruit
  15. track — a path
  16. track — a song
  17. drill — army training
  18. present — the time now
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. track — to keep track
  21. chest — of your body
  22. drill — the tool
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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