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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. spring — of water
  3. pound — a weight
  4. charge — electricity
  5. land — to come down
  6. charge — a price
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. spring — the season
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. rest — what's left
  13. charge — in control
  14. sharp — clever
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. land — a country
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. rest — what's left
  20. chair — a leader
  21. spring — a coil
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. rest — a break
  24. pound — to hit hard

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