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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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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: spring · snap · charge · perch · chair · staff · cold · cap

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. chair — a leader
  3. cold — an illness
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. spring — the season
  6. perch — the fish
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. staff — employees
  9. cap — of ice
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. charge — electricity
  12. spring — a coil
  13. charge — in control
  14. cold — not warm
  15. staff — employees
  16. cap — a lid
  17. snap — to click
  18. charge — a price
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. staff — a stick
  22. spring — of water
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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