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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. suit — in cards
  3. charge — in control
  4. season — in sport
  5. suit — to fit
  6. row — a line
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. kid — child
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. present — there
  11. charge — electricity
  12. present — a gift
  13. suit — clothes
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. present — the time now
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. snap — to click
  19. season — of the year
  20. kid — to tease
  21. cold — not warm
  22. charge — a price
  23. cold — an illness
  24. row — to paddle

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