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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: chair · lash · bark · wave · game · cold · fall · charge

  1. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. charge — electricity
  2. game — wild animals
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. charge — in control
  6. fall — to drop
  7. charge — a price
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. cold — an illness
  11. chair — a leader
  12. fall — the season
  13. fall — to drop
  14. game — a match
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. bark — to shout
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. wave — with your hand

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