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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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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: chest · nail · cue · wound · dip · spring · charge · pitcher

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. spring — a coil
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. charge — in control
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. chest — of your body
  7. spring — of water
  8. cue — a hint
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. charge — a price
  12. cue — for pool
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. spring — the season
  15. wound — an injury
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. chest — a box
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. cue — a signal
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. chest — of your body
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. wound — an injury
  24. dip — to sink

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