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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 120 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. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. charge — a price
  3. ball — a dance
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. bulb — for light
  8. charge — in control
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. ball — a great time
  13. shower — to wash
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bore — to drill
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. bore — to tire
  19. shower — rain
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. bark — to shout
  24. ball — a round shape

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