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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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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: club · kid · drill · press · charge · chair · snap · wound

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. club — for golf
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. club — for dancing
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. drill — the tool
  7. kid — child
  8. chair — a leader
  9. press — newspapers
  10. kid — to tease
  11. wound — an injury
  12. press — to push
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. charge — a price
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. wound — an injury
  17. drill — a practice
  18. snap — to click
  19. club — a group
  20. charge — in control
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. drill — army training
  23. press — a publisher
  24. chair — a professorship

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