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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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Word bank
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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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. present — a gift
  3. charge — electricity
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. clip — to cut
  8. scale — size or range
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. swing — music
  11. swing — to play on
  12. pound — a weight
  13. clip — a video
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. present — the time now
  16. clip — for paper
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. cold — an illness
  19. swing — in golf
  20. scale — in music
  21. charge — in control
  22. cold — not warm
  23. present — there
  24. kid — to tease

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