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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: lean · row · kid · spring · mate · charge · band · cold

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. cold — an illness
  3. charge — in control
  4. lean — to bend
  5. kid — to tease
  6. charge — electricity
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — the season
  9. kid — child
  10. lean — thin
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. spring — a coil
  13. cold — not warm
  14. charge — a price
  15. band — a ring
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. row — to paddle
  19. band — a music group
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. mate — a friend
  22. mate — to breed
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. mate — a partner

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