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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: charge · pitcher · chair · lean · band · sharp · cold · game

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The tickets are free of ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. cold — not warm
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a ring
  8. lean — to bend
  9. sharp — clever
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. game — a match
  13. charge — electricity
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. cold — an illness
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. lean — thin
  18. charge — in control
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. charge — a price
  22. band — a music group
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. game — wild animals

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