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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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The tickets are free of ________________.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. cold — an illness
  4. march — the month
  5. pit — in a race
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. march — music
  9. game — wild animals
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. game — a match
  14. pit — a hole
  15. charge — a price
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. march — the month
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. charge — in control
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. content — happy
  24. content — the amount

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