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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: kid · charge · date · cold · fork · pop · roll · nail

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. cold — an illness
  3. charge — a price
  4. charge — electricity
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. pop — music
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. date — the fruit
  11. kid — to tease
  12. charge — in control
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. pop — to visit
  16. fork — in a road
  17. pop — soda
  18. kid — child
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. roll — a cake
  23. roll — a list
  24. nail — on a finger

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