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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: tear · cold · charge · stick · pitcher · kick · cap · rash

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The tickets are free of ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cap — a lid
  5. cap — a hat
  6. tear — to rip
  7. tear — from crying
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. charge — a price
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. rash — hasty
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. cap — of ice
  16. kick — in football
  17. charge — in control
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cold — not warm
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. rash — a series

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