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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: clip · bark · mug · racket · bat · cap · charge · field

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. cap — of ice
  3. mug — a cup
  4. charge — a price
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. charge — in control
  7. field — for sport
  8. cap — a hat
  9. mug — a face
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. mug — to rob
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. field — a subject
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. bark — to shout
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. clip — a video
  21. clip — to cut
  22. field — farmland
  23. clip — for paper
  24. cap — a lid

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