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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: charge · mine · bore · pound · file · present · board · spring

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. board — a committee
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. charge — a price
  7. board — to get on
  8. spring — of water
  9. charge — electricity
  10. charge — in control
  11. mine — for digging
  12. file — a tool
  13. spring — the season
  14. bore — to drill
  15. present — there
  16. file — a document
  17. bore — to tire
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. present — a gift
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. file — a line of people
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. present — the time now
  24. pound — a weight

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