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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: spell · file · ground · charge · pitcher · clip

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. ground — a position
  3. spell — letters
  4. ground — crushed
  5. clip — a video
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. file — a line of people
  8. ground — the earth
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. charge — electricity
  11. spell — magic
  12. file — a document
  13. clip — for paper
  14. file — a tool
  15. charge — in control
  16. clip — to cut
  17. spell — a short time
  18. pitcher — in baseball

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