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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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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: charge · clip · deal · land · key · chest · rash · rest

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. chest — of your body
  3. clip — for paper
  4. land — to come down
  5. rash — hasty
  6. key — for a lock
  7. rest — what's left
  8. land — ground
  9. rest — a break
  10. charge — electricity
  11. deal — to handle
  12. key — in music
  13. chest — a box
  14. rest — what's left
  15. clip — to cut
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. charge — in control
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. rash — a series
  20. land — a country
  21. key — the most important part
  22. clip — a video
  23. chest — of your body
  24. rash — on the skin

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